Disinfo: In Poland, the Red Army monuments are destroyed as a result of politicians' decisions

Summary

In Washington, the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko was devastated and damaged as a result of, let’s say, grassroots social protests. In Poland, the destruction of the Red Army monuments is carried out based on the decisions of the politicians. These two situations are different.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative casting Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States as countries which do not respect the history of WWII and its heroes. In 2017, Poland introduced new laws to ban totalitarian propaganda. According to this Law, up to 230 Soviet monuments may be replaced, a decision to be made by Polish local authorities. The Polish MFA underlines that Red Army burial places and cemeteries situated in Poland will be carefully protected. It is possible to dismantle and remove only symbolic monuments to the Red Army. In 2015, Paweł Ukielski, Deputy Head of the Polish Institute of Historical Remembrance, published an open letter to the Russians, where he explained the need to remove the symbolic monuments to the Red Army from Polish public places (text in Polish and Russian). According to him, free Poland perceives these monuments as symbols of captivity by the totalitarian USSR. In some cases, the Soviet monuments glorify the Red Army generals, who were involved in military crimes against the Poles. The Polish Government does not implement the centralised policy of replacement of the Red Army monuments, such decisions are taken by the local authorities. Read similar cases connected to the issue of the Red Army monuments - Monuments to Soviet soldiers are massively demolished and damaged in Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries; Removal of the monument to Marshall Konev is a violation of the Czech-Russian Agreement of 1993; A monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator demolished in Lithuania.

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pl.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 200
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Polish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, US
  • Keywords: US racial justice protests, Monuments, Anti-Russian, Red Army, USSR, Protest, Russophobia
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Disproof

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