Russia formally protests to Germany over Soviet military monument's desecration

By Jeyhun Aliyev and Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Russian Embassy in Berlin handed a protest note to the German Foreign Ministry over the desecration of a Soviet military monument in the eastern city of Werneuchen, Russian news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.

"The Embassy continues to record acts of vandalism against Soviet military graves and memorials in Germany. On the eve, a video appeared on the internet in which a German supporter of neo-Nazi beliefs desecrates a Soviet military memorial in the city of Werneuchen (Federal State of Brandenburg), accompanying his trick with racist statements," the Russian diplomatic mission said in a statement.

According to Russian mission, this is a "disgusting act as an attempt to incite ethnic hatred, as well as a cynical trampling on the memory of the soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of the world and Europe from Nazism."

The mission asked citizens who witnessed the desecration of Soviet military cemeteries and memorial sites to inform the Russian Embassy in Germany as soon as possible, as well as Russian consular offices, stating the location and time of the incidents.