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Disinfo: Czechia is US’s puppet, removal of Konev’s monument was sanctioned by Washington

Summary

The reason behind the removal of Konev’s monument in Prague was the decision taken by the US embassy in Czechia. Americans pointed out to the Czech MFA that Prague should have a place where the WWII victory can be celebrated without paying attention to the USSR’s decisive contribution in the Hitler’s Germany defeat. The US wanted to see the Interbrigady Square, as such place as it is associated with the victory over fascism. Hence amid the coronavirus outbreak Czechs had a go-ahead from Americans to remove Konev’s monument from the selected square. Therefore Czechia is not really independent, its master decides instead. Not to say that Czechia is US’s 51st state, but Prague is sort of Washington’s district.

Disproof

Conspiracy consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narratives about EU countries as US puppets and the supposedly hostile anti-Russian intentions of the West.

The democratically elected municipal council of Prague 6 voted for the removal of the Konev's statue. Using the protocol of the Politbureau's assembly, Czech historians established that on 8-14 May 1968 Konev chaired the Soviet military delegation sent to Prague to prepare the military invasion of Czechoslovakia. Konev was also chief of the Soviet troops in East Germany during the Berlin wall crisis in 1961. In other words, the Red Army brought not only liberation but also the terror to Czechia, as the mayor of Prague 6, Ondřej Kolář, reminded.

Kolář said that he respects the role of Konev-led forces in liberating Prague, and the sacrifice of Soviet armies liberating Europe from Nazism. "We will strive for an art competition for a memorial to the liberators of Prague at the end of World War Two instead of the marshal Konev statue," he said before the vote. "At the same time we will secure a dignified - and let me stress that, dignified - placement of this art piece (Konev) in a memorial institution. I think this is a consensual solution we have called for a number of years."

The monument to Marshall Konev was erected in 1980 during the "normalisation" period in communist Czechoslovakia. The leadership of Prague's Municipal District 6, which retains legal ownership of the statue, has voted to move the monument to a museum and replace it with a memorial commemorating Soviet sacrifices in the fight against Hitler in general, and the liberation of Prague in particular. More information available here.

See earlier disinformation cases concerning the Konev's statue which alleged that the purpose of removing the monuments is to provoke aggression towards Russia, that the removal is immoral and illegal, and that Konev's monument was removed with the aim to insult Russia.

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publication/media

News agency REX (Archived)
cont.ws (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 195
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/04/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Czech Republic, USSR, US
  • Keywords: Monuments, Puppets, Adolf Hitler, Conspiracy theory, Nazi/Fascist

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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