Russia is surprised by the lack of reaction from Israel to the destruction of monuments to Soviet soldiers who stopped the Holocaust, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RIA Novosti.
“The lack of reaction so far is simply surprising“, she said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during a briefing - RIA Novosti, 1920,
According to a source at the agency, Moscow is trying to convince Tel Aviv that the destruction of monuments to Soviet soldiers, including Jews, who stopped the Nazi Holocaust, is one of the factors driving the growth of anti-Semitism in Europe.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine continue to destroy monuments to Red Army soldiers with the support of the EU and NATO. The ministry believes that the West is trying to cement a Russophobic front by attacking memorial sites.
According to an investigation by Russian diplomats from 2020-2021, only 112 monuments to Soviet liberators remained in their original places in Poland, compared to 561 in 1997. Meanwhile, at the end of 2023, Poland's Institute of National Remembrance reported the destruction of 40 monuments in 18 months.