MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: Moscow has sent a note to Kiev, demanding that Ukraine honor its commitments to protect war memorials due to plans to destroy a replica of the Order of the Patriotic War on the Field of Mars in Lvov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"In connection with the Lvov authorities’ plans to destroy a replica of the Order of the Patriotic War at the Field of Mars war memorial, on July 30, the Russian Foreign Ministry's note was sent to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanding that Ukraine fulfill international obligations and norms of national legislation to protect and preserve war memorials. Such obligations are enshrined, in particular, in the agreement on perpetuating the memory of the courage and 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," the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the Ukrainian authorities’ policy aimed at dismantling monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers and the memory of their feat in the fight against Nazism. "We urge Ukraine’s leadership to abandon the falsification of history and attempts to deprive Ukrainian citizens of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War secured through joint efforts of all peoples of the Soviet Union," the ministry concluded.
On July 23, work to dismantle the memorial dedicated to Soviet soldiers who lost their lives while liberating the city during the Great Patriotic War ended in Lvov.
