Destruction of Soviet memorial heritage in Europe
Russian Foreign MinistryPoland
Poland is engaged in a targeted campaign to destroy all our memorials. This topic has been coming up daily in our statements over the past years. All this is happening despite the February 22, 1994, intergovernmental agreements setting forth the obligations for the parties to maintain memorials, preserve burial sites, tombs, monuments and other remembrance sites and to properly care for them.
Monuments to Soviet soldiers-liberators have been removed from public spaces as “symbols” or “propaganda” of communism.
In 2019-2021, such monuments have been destroyed or defaced in Waszkowo (Wielkopolskie Voivodeship), Bińcze and Radowo Wielkie (Pomorskie Voivodeship), Wroclaw and Ścinawa (Lower Silesian Voivodeship), Krzanowice (Silesian Voivodeship), Patrzyków (Łódź Voivodeship), Wilków and Józefów (Lublin Voivodeship).
In January 2021, a monument to Soviet soldiers was demolished in Wysokie Mazowieckie (Podlaskie Voivodeship).
In April it was discovered that the Monument of Gratitude to the Red Army, in Lesko (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) and the Monument to Soviet and Polish Brotherhood in Arms in Czechowice-Dziedzice (Silesian Voivodeship) had been taken down.
In August 2022, a monument to the Red Army was dismantled in Brzeg in southern Poland.
On October 27, 2022, monuments to Red Army soldiers were torn down in Glubczyce and Byczyna (Opole Voivodeship), Bobolice (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) and near the town of Staszow (Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship).
Estonia
In the past few years, there have been an increase of manifestations of anti-Semitism and the desecration of monuments to Soviet soldiers who fell on the territory of Estonia in battles with the Nazi invaders.
On May 16-17, 2022, a monument to Soviet soldiers and the stone slab in front of it disappeared from Mihkli cemetery in Koonga Parish, Pärnu County. Now only the foundation of the monument is left.
On June 17, 2022, it became known about the dismantling and transportation in an unknown direction of the monument to the soldiers of the Soviet Army who fell in the Great Patriotic War, installed on a mass grave in Otepää (the burial place of 34 soldiers).
At the end of June 2022, the Russian Embassy in Tallinn learned about the dismantling of the monument located on Kindralimägi Hill (on the way to Etsaste, Tartu County) built in honor of the Soviet commander, Major General P.Potapov, who fell in the battles for the liberation of Estonia in September 1944.
On August 16, 2022, a Soviet T-34 tank memorial was removed in Narva.
On September 12, 2022, the destruction of a monument to Soviet liberator soldiers began in Tartu.
Latvia
Latvia has decided to focus on dismantling monuments to soldiers who liberated the country from Nazism.
On 14 June 2022, the authorities of Jēkabpils began eliminating the mass military burial on Rīgas street, 205, in close vicinity of the memorial complex. Heavy machinery demolished the pedestal of the monument to Soviet artillerymen, the remains of three Soviet officers buried underneath were exhumed. On the same day, the adjacent memorial complex to the heroes of the Soviet Union who had been killed in the Krustpils operation was demolished.
On August 25, 2022, a monument to the liberators of Riga from Nazi invaders was torn down in the Latvian capital.
On October 31, 2022, monuments to Soviet soldiers were demolished in Daugavpils.
In November 2022, a monument to the liberators of Latvia from Nazi invaders was torn down in Rezekne.
As of mid-November 2022, 120 Soviet monuments have been dismantled in Latvia in accordance with the law on the prohibition of the display of objects glorifying the Soviet and Nazi occupation regimes and on their dismantling in Latvia, which the parliament adopted on June 16, 2022.
Lithuania
In 2022 the Republic of Lithuania, in a rush of historical revisionism decided to demolish monuments to Soviet soldiers located in places of burial of the Red Army soldiers across the country.
On April 26, 2022, a monument to the Soviet soldiers who perished during the Great Patriotic War was torn down in Kaunas.
On July 4, 2022, the destruction of a memorial complex of Red Army soldiers began in Klaipeda.
On December 9, 2022, a memorial to Soviet soldiers was demolished in Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius.
Slovakia
We condemn the recent acts of vandalism at monuments to Soviet soldiers in Slovakia’s Piestany on May 13 and Poprad on May 16.
Now that the rise of neo-Nazism is actually encouraged in Europe, as we can see from their attitude to developments in Ukraine, it is not surprising that vandals have painted the wolfsangel symbol, which was used by the German 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and the Dutch 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland, on the monument in Piestany. These days, the wolfsangel is a symbol of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which has committed numerous crimes against civilians in Donbass.
We undoubtedly regard these acts of vandalism as illegal, immoral and offensive to the memory of not only Soviet soldiers but also the Slovak partisans who were part of the anti-fascist resistance movement against Nazism. We assume that the Slovak authorities will conduct a thorough investigation and will call the guilty to account.
The desecration of war memorials in Slovakia is a consequence of the rampant Russophobia in the country. Bratislava has tried to turn a blind eye and to hush up the fact that the majority of Slovak citizens revere the memory of Soviet soldiers who fell fighting against Nazism.
We have taken note of the principled stand taken by Prosecutor General of Slovakia Maros Zilinka, who condemned these acts and opened criminal proceedings on charges of extremism against those who had vandalised the monument in Piestany. We also noted that the Poprad authorities have quickly repaired the damage done to the monument there. We hope that measures will be taken to preclude a repetition of such incidents in the future. We urge Slovakia to scrupulously honour its commitments under the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation (1993) and the intergovernmental agreement on the burial sites of fallen servicemen and civilian victims of wars (1995).
Greece
We are indignant over the desecration of the Monument to Soviet Soldiers in the centre of Athens. They lost their lives fighting for the freedom and independence of Greece in 1941-1944. This monument is one of the central venues for celebrating Victory Day every year. Unidentified individuals painted Nazi logos on the monument in yellow and wrote the title of the Ukrainian nationalist battalion Azov on it. Over the years, this battalion conducted punitive operations in Donbass and committed crimes against Mariupol civilians.
This case is unprecedented for Greece whose people offered fierce resistance to the German Nazi invaders during World War II. Greeks sincerely appreciate the memory of the Soviet soldiers who freed Europe from the Nazis.
We strongly condemn this crime. We consider it a direct consequence of the anti-Russia hysteria unleashed by the local media. The continuous lop-sided and patently distorted coverage of events in Donbass, and support for the Kiev regime have let those who are willing to bury Russian-Greek common history and memory off the leash, all for the sake of questionable goals.
We are grateful to the empathic Greek citizens and Russian compatriots for their prompt cleanup of the monument.
We urge the Greek authorities to find and strictly punish the vandals to prevent a repetition of such unacceptable incidents. The Russian Embassy in Athens immediately sent a relevant note to the Foreign Ministry of Greece. We are waiting for an update on the results of the investigation.
Bulgaria
We are outraged by the new act of vandalism against the memorial to Soviet soldiers in Bulgaria. The criminals desecrated the burial site in the city of Dobrich, where approximately fifty Red Army soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of Europe from Nazism are laid to rest.
Of course, the perpetrators, devoid of conscience and ignorant of history or what is happening right now in Europe, are responsible for this ugly trick. It is also clear that this atrocity fits into the mainstream Russophobia cultivated by the authorities of the NATO and EU states, which are trying to destroy the friendly feelings and mutual sympathy that bind the Russian and Bulgarian peoples.
We believe that this plan is doomed to failure. We know that we still have many friends in Bulgaria who carefully preserve our shared traditions and who do not succumb to blatant propaganda.
We demand that the Bulgarian law enforcement agencies carry out a proper investigation, identify and punish those responsible, and ensure proper protection of Russian/Soviet monuments and graves.