Russian diplomats blast Kiev regime over repeated desecration of WWII monument
The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed indignation over an act of vandalism committed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kiev. Moscow says this shows that the Ukrainian government is not able to counter extremism.
“To our indignation we have learned about another act of vandalism – on November 20, the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in central Kiev was put out with cement. The fact that this act of desecration took place for the second time in just one month and the culprits have not been found and punished speaks either about the criminal permissiveness of the Kiev authorities or about their lack of will and inability to counter unrestrained radicals,” reads the statement released by the foreign ministry on Tuesday.
“We call upon the international community to pay attention to the events in Ukraine and resolutely denounce the activities of the Ukrainian nationalists,” the document reads.
Russian diplomats made a similar statement on November 9, shortly after the first cement attack on the monument, expressing astonishment over Ukraine’s weak reaction to the event and demanding a proper investigation and punishment of those behind it.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the attack on the monument goes against all European values, and the principles that the United Nations was founded upon, noting that the Ukrainian government’s careless attitude to the situation has made life in Ukraine easy for neo-Nazis and other radicals.
“In this context, one cannot but be shocked by the cynicism and, of course, absolute inaction of the Ukrainian authorities which allow extremists flout with impunity the memory of those who gave their lives fighting against Nazism,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
