Lithuanian Culture Ministry Drafts Guidance on Demolition of Memorials to Soviet Soldiers

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Lithuanian Culture Ministry said on Wednesday that it had prepared recommendations for the local authorities on the demolition of monuments to Soviet soldiers.

"The Department of Cultural Heritage has drafted and presented detailed recommendations for Lithuanian local administrations and the association of Lithuanian local administrations concerning burial sites of Soviet soldiers during World War II and monuments located there," the ministry said in a statement.

If the Soviet soldiers' burial sites are assigned a status of local importance, the issue of their demolition should be decided by the local government's assessment board, the ministry noted.

"While preparing for the dismantling of monuments, local administrations are primarily advised to assess whether local museums or other designated spaces can store or exhibit them. If the local administration lacks such capacities, the removed monuments are recommended to be transferred to the Gruto Park Museum [an open-air museum where dismantled Soviet monuments are stored]," the statement added.

The ministry also said that monuments, gravestones and memorial plaques in cemeteries and other burial sites are being supplemented and clarified in accordance with the findings of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania.

Cases of vandalism against Russian and Soviet monuments have been on the rise in Europe since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine. In March, a group of unidentified individuals drew a swastika on a monument to Soviet soldiers in the Polish town of Dzialdowo. A Soviet war memorial in Berlin's Treptower Park was splashed with paint, while tanks in a memorial in Tiergarten were covered with Ukrainian flags. Some Russian churches in Europe and North America have also reported acts of vandalism.

On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after Donetsk and Lugansk republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response, the West rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media and financial institutions.