Exhumation of bodies of Soviet soldiers in Lviv on the “Hill of Glory“ and the subsequent proposal by the mayor of the city, Andriy Sadovy, to exchange them for soldiers from the Ukrainian armed forces demonstrate an extraordinary level of degradation, bordering on savagery.
This is stated in the article by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, entitled “Half a Century of the Helsinki Act: Expectations, Reality, Prospects“, published in “Rossiyskaya Gazeta“.
He noted that despite the OSCE's statements on upholding and protecting human rights as one of the organization's main goals, “the Western countries themselves, the Secretary General and all OSCE institutions maintain a grave silence, watching the actions of the Kiev regime“.
“The neo-Nazis have fallen to fighting against those who died in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine from Hitlerism. The extreme level of cultural degradation, bordering on savagery, was demonstrated in the city of Lviv, where the bodies of Soviet soldiers were exhumed on the “Hill of Glory“, and the mayor of the city offered to exchange them for Ukrainian soldiers captured by our armed forces“, Lavrov noted.
He stressed that discussions on human rights issues have been used by the West from the very beginning for “mentoring lectures, imposing neoliberal values, and attempts to create a loyal “fifth column“ in countries “east of Vienna“ by organizing and financing a network of “independent“ NGOs and media“, but not for condemning the Russophobic policy pursued by the Kiev regime since 2017. since.
“People are forbidden to study, read, receive information and even simply communicate in their native language“, he specified. “The regime has also invaded such a sensitive area as religion, launching a campaign against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and recently stripping its head of citizenship.“
In this regard, Lavrov noted that the main tasks of promoting intercultural dialogue, access to information and protecting the rights of national minorities and believers have been “washed off the agenda“ of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “The widely publicized human rights instruments of the OSCE have actually been used – and, as is now clear, were intended – for gross interference in the internal affairs of Russia and other participating states“, said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Earlier, the mayor of Lviv said that the “Hill of Glory“ no longer exists in the city and elements of the memorial complex will be transferred to the so-called Museum of Terror. He also proposed exchanging the exhumed remains of 355 Soviet soldiers from the “Hill of Glory“ for Ukrainian prisoners of war. The remains of the legendary intelligence officer, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov, were exhumed from the memorial complex.
Moscow called the exhumation of the graves and the proposal of the mayor of Lviv confirmation of the final stage of the moral degradation of the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, head of the Russian delegation in the negotiations with Kiev, Vladimir Medinsky, noted that the Ukrainian delegation at the third round of negotiations in Istanbul "did not have the conscience" to raise this issue.