Poland in the first half of 2018 became the leader in the number of acts of vandalism against Soviet monuments, the country recorded 33 such cases, said Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Pavel Popov.
“The number of acts of vandalism against monuments to Soviet soldiers in Eastern Europe increased significantly in 2018, primarily in Poland.In the first half of the year, 39 acts of vandalism against Soviet military memorial sites were committed,” Popov told the Federation Council.
According to him, there were 33 cases of vandalism in Poland, including the dismantling of 26 monuments, five cases were recorded in the Czech Republic and one in the FRG.
“Representatives of the Ministry of Defense for the organization of military memorial work abroad jointly with the staff of Russian consular offices regularly monitor the state of the Soviet historical and memorial heritage in the host countries, and official notes are sent to the bodies of the respective countries for all instances of vandalism,” Popov said.
The deputy head of the Defense Ministry added that in Bulgaria “monuments to soldiers of the Red Army are regularly subjected to acts of vandalism, most of the military burials are in unsatisfactory condition,” and “there are serious inaccuracies in the data being buried.” As explained by Popov, one of the reasons for this state of affairs is the absence of an interstate agreement, the conclusion of which is hampered by the Bulgarian side.