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Diplomat blasts Czech authorities for conniving with attempts to rewrite history

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled that actions of the so-called Russian Liberation Army, which he led during World War II, were branded by the Nuremberg Trials as involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have no limitations period
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova  Vladimir Gerdo/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Russia views the lack of reaction from the Czech authorities to plans by Prague’s municipal administration to dedicate a monument to fighters of the so-called Russian Liberation Army led by General Andrei Vlasov who had defected to the Nazis as obvious connivance with attempts to rewrite history, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Claims by some municipal leaders (in Prague - TASS) to pursuing extraterritorial policies spark no proper response from the Czech Republic’s Foreign Ministry and other government agencies, which are supposed to ensure that the state complies with the provisions of international documents signed on its behalf," she said. "This is not a philosophical, not a theoretical question, not a question of public views or historical preferences. That’s the matter of international law and compliance with the state’s obligations. We view that as obvious connivance with the criminal rewriting of history."

The diplomat recalled that actions by Andrei Vlasov and members of the so-called Russian Liberation Army, which he led during World War II, were branded by the Nuremberg Trials as involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have no limitations period.

"We usually say ‘outrageous,’ ‘unacceptable,’ but now I believe this is an absolutely ‘gruesome’ initiative aimed at not just falsifying history but also at reincarnating neo-Nazism, Nazism and everything that is connected with it," she stressed.

Zakharova also pointed to the recent decisions by officials in Prague to demolish the monument dedicated to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev. "Now Prague is ready to hail Vlasov as a hero," she added. "That is, it is necessary to demolish the monument to Konev and install a monument to Vlasov."

The initiative to dedicate a monument to members of Vlasov’s army, some of whom supported the anti-Nazi Prague uprising (May 5-8, 1945), was put forward by Praha-Reporyje district head Pavel Novotny. The proposal was submitted to the district’s municipal council scheduled to convene on December 16.