Russia Protests Ukraine's Plans To Demolish Element Of WWII Memorial

Russia Protests Ukraine's Plans to Demolish Element of WWII Memorial

Russia has sent a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in connection with planned demolition of a replica of the Order of the World War II at the Field of Mars military memorial in the city of Lviv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2021) Russia has sent a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in connection with planned demolition of a replica of the Order of the World War II at the Field of Mars military memorial in the city of Lviv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The war memorial to Soviet soldiers was established in Lviv in 1970. It consisted of a 30-meter obelisk, statues of warriors, and a figure of "the motherland." In February 2018, the city council decided to demolish the obelisk.

"In connection with the Lviv authorities' plans to destroy a replica of the Order of the Patriotic War on the Field of Mars war memorial, on July 30 this year, a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry was sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry with requirement to honor the international commitments and the national legislation norms on protection and conservation of war memorials," the ministry said.

The relevant commitments are binding in accordance with the agreement on commemorating the memory of the heroism of the peoples of the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, to which Ukraine is a party too, the Russian ministry noted.

"[We] call on the Ukrainian authorities to abandon history falsification and attempts to deprive the Ukrainian citizens of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, which was achieved through the joint efforts of all the peoples of the Soviet Union," the statement read.

Since May 2015, a law banning the Communist and the Nazi symbols has been effective in Ukraine.