Russia’s embassy in Warsaw said it had not been notified of plans to alter a memorial in Rawicz and called on Polish authorities to abandon the work.
Russia’s embassy in Warsaw said it opposed planned changes to a memorial to Soviet soldiers in the Polish town of Rawicz. According to the diplomatic mission, local authorities intend to remove a red star and an inscription commemorating Red Army soldiers, replacing them with neutral information about the burial site.
Polish media reports say the proposed wording would identify the site as the burial place of Soviet servicemen killed in 1945 while fighting German forces in southwestern Greater Poland, Lower Silesia and Brandenburg. The embassy said it had not been informed of the plans. It described the possible alteration as vandalism and cited a Russian-Polish agreement signed on February 22, 1994, concerning the preservation of burial and memorial sites.
The embassy also said the monument is listed in a catalogue of memorial sites published in 2003 and rejected its description as propaganda. The diplomatic mission urged officials to abandon the changes. These characterisations reflect the Russian embassy’s position.
Rawicz was liberated on January 23, 1945. According to figures cited by RIA Novosti from the Russian embassy, about 1,500 Soviet soldiers and officers are buried in the town. The available material did not independently confirm the local authorities’ plans through Polish official sources.