Soviet graves desecrated in Czech Republic

Moscow has made a formal protest following the theft of bronze plaques from the graves of 48 Soviet soldiers at a cemetery in the Czech capital, Prague. The damage was discovered on Monday at the Olsany Cemetery, the country's largest burial site.

There are 429 Red Army soldiers buried there and 102 plaques have been stolen in the past two months.

The Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic called for “quick and concrete steps to be taken” to investigate the desecration of Soviet monuments.

Zuzana Opletavlova, a spokeswoman for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said the incident is being treated as an act of vandalism.