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Czech Embassy In Moscow Attacked After Prague Removes Soviet Commander's Statue


The monument to Marshal Konev lies on the ground after being removing from its pedestal in Prague on April 3.
The monument to Marshal Konev lies on the ground after being removing from its pedestal in Prague on April 3.

Several masked individuals have attacked the Czech Embassy in Moscow after Prague authorities removed a statue of the Soviet military commander Ivan Konev.

The attackers threw smoke bombs onto the embassy's territory on April 5 and placed a banner saying Stop Fascism on the compound’s fence.

A group called Other Russia that consists of members of the former National Bolshevik party that was banned in 2007 claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was "a response to the Czech authorities, who on Friday [April 3] removed the monument of the Marshall Ivan Konev in Prague."

"Our tanks will be in Prague!" the message said.

The Czech Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, calling it an act of "vandalism" and the organization behind it "extremist."

"The Czech Republic protests an attack on the premises of the diplomatic mission which the host country is obliged to protect. The official note was sent today by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moscow to the Russian Foreign Ministry. We expect that the Russian authorities will take measures to prevent such incidents from reoccurring," the statement made accessible to RFE/RL says.

The bronze statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev was dismantled on April 3 after a local assembly in the Prague 6 district voted in 2019 to remove it.

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