MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The cemetery was damaged late on Monday by vandals who painted 15 red swastika and other Nazi symbols on the steps around the central obelisk, according to a representative of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw.
"We are outraged by the ongoing 'war' against our memorial sites in Poland. We expect the authorities in Warsaw to publicly condemn the incident at the cemetery-mausoleum of Soviet soldiers. Otherwise, the situation will continue to deteriorate, and this has a detrimental effect on the general state of Russian-Polish relations," the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Embassy in Warsaw lodged a protest to Poland on this occasion, demanding to eliminate the consequences of the incident, to find and punish the perpetrators. Appropriate demarches will also be undertaken in Moscow through diplomatic channels, the Russian ministry noted.
"The origins of yet another criminal escapade are clear. Warsaw is engaged in a radical revision of assessments of key historical events of the 20th century, especially World War II. As a consequence, the role of the Red Army in the liberation of Europe and Poland from the Nazis is denied, the real offensive on our war memorial heritage has been started, the demolition of Soviet/Russian monuments is openly encouraged. The so-called 'fight against symbols of Communist rule' is being carried out in such an uncivilized manner, still at the same time the solicitous attitude to graves is emphasized," the Foreign Ministry added.
According to the ministry, the desecration of the memorial in Warsaw "once again clearly shows the depravity of such a policy, which cannot be justified by any ideological links … After getting an anti-Russian signal, criminals already do not make differences between monuments and burials, mock the memory of our heroes and, as experience shows, feel their impunity."
The Soviet Military Cemetery is a burial place for over 21,000 Soviet Army soldiers from the first Belarusian Front who died while liberating Poland from Nazi forces in 1944-1945. The cemetery was officially opened in 1950 on the fifth anniversary of Germany's defeat in World War II. The cemetery's centerpiece features an obelisk surrounded by soldier sculptures.
