We will not forget, we will not forgive: Experts on Shoigu’s harsh reaction
If in the Czech Republic acts of vandalism are carried out at the state level against monuments to the heroes-liberators from Nazi Germany, Russia is ready to take the monument to Marshal Ivan Konev dismantled in Prague onto its territory at its own expense. In the future, Russian justice should extend beyond the borders of the Russian Federation the practice of criminal prosecution for mockery of Red Army monuments.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made such a harsh reaction to the latest events in the Czech capital. PolitNavigator asked experts what consequences the initiatives of the head of the defense department will have.
“The initiative to return the monument to Russia is absolutely reasonable - we must respect the memory of our commanders, our heroes. Of course, we must return them to our land - there are many places here where these monuments will stand with absolutely dignity.
As far as I know, the Czech government has already intervened in this situation, the monument will simply be moved, so let's wait to see what happens next. And so, I repeat, if there is no place for the monument there, then it will be found here,” famous military observer Vladislav Shurygin supports Shoigu’s initiative.
I agree with the chief editor of the magazine "National Defense" Igor Korotchenko.
“As for Russia’s desire to return this monument here, I think this is absolutely correct. We will find a worthy place on one of the central squares or streets of Moscow, where this monument can be installed,” believes Korotchenko.
Military historian Armen Gasparyan, one of the developers of the law on the protection of monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, welcomes the minister’s idea of criminal prosecution of foreign vandals.
“I was part of a working group that also made recommendations on what exactly should be included in this law. The Investigative Committee has already opened a criminal case against this cynical bastard from Prague, who said that “there is no protective mask in Konev under quarantine conditions.” I believe that a complete package is needed here - a criminal case, economic sanctions, everything as it should be. Then this entire public will begin to very quickly become aware of the changed architecture on this circuit. Because they are used to the fact that Russia looks at this calmly, except for public indignation. We need to show that the situation has changed, this will be useful,” Gasparyan said.
Political scientist Alexey Martynov emphasized that Russia could respond symmetrically to the actions of the Prague authorities.
“It is obvious that sooner or later the monument will be taken home, where it will take a place worthy of a hero. What is happening in the Czech Republic and in Eastern European countries in general - we saw this in Poland and in other places where Soviet monuments and even graves are being destroyed - everything is clear with this. I would not limit myself to just conditional criminal prosecution from the point of view that if suddenly, someday these people find themselves on Russian territory, then we will give them and so on. I would start by dismantling all the numerous memorial sites on Russian territory dedicated to the White-Czechs. I would dismantle monuments and memorial plaques in the Far East, Central Russia, and the Urals, where all this happened, and hand it over to local history museums. “We are not against historical memory, but it should be preserved in regional and local history museums.”
The second thing I would propose to do to the Moscow authorities is that I would promptly rename Hasek Street, on which the Czech Embassy is located, into Marshal Grechko Street - the legendary Marshal Grechko, who made a huge contribution to the development of the defense capability of our country, he himself is an active participant in the Great Patriotic War Wars. On the 75th anniversary of the victory, this would be a great occasion to rename a street in honor of him in the center of Moscow. For this, I think the best street that can be renamed is Hasek Street, on which, by a strange coincidence, the Czech embassy is located.
I would also recommend that the capital’s authorities, together with the Moscow Metro, rename the Prazhskaya metro station to the station named after Marshal Konev. Perhaps in the medium term, when the monument to the legendary Marshal Konev returns to his homeland, it could take a place in the lobby of the Moscow Metro station named after him. It seems to me that this would be a brilliant response to all these foul-smelling actions on the part of the Czech authorities,” Martynov said.
His colleague Oleg Matveychev considered the demolition of the monument a provocation of the West on the eve of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union over the Nazis.
“These actions of the Czech side are obviously timed to coincide with the anniversary of the victory, specifically in order to spoil May 9th. All this is being done by certain circles, most likely conducted by NATO members - I don’t think that this is being done by the Czechs themselves. A huge number of Czechs themselves are protesting against this, especially since a large tourist flow has always previously been to Czechoslovakia from Russia. The Czechs have never acted as viciously as the same Poles or Balts.
Obviously, this decision was made at the highest level and dictated from abroad. Some American ambassador ordered this to be done.
Our proposal to take away the monument was met with a boorish response that they did not want to hand it over and would not hand it over - this is also a fairly new practice. Many monuments demolished and removed from the post-Soviet space were transferred to the Russian side,” argues Matveychev.
He supports Shoigu’s proposal to criminally prosecute attempts to demolish monuments to Soviet soldiers in Europe.
“It’s high time to pass a federal law on criminal prosecution not only of vandals inside Russia, but also outside of everyone who touches our monuments. And also about the mandatory inclusion of national and other sanctions for all persons who, in one way or another, were involved in vandalism and gave certain orders.
Moreover, these personal sanctions should not be such that entry into Russia is prohibited - this may not frighten them, but much more significant, relating specifically to criminal prosecutions and other things, so that they think before signing certain documents.
One can only welcome and wait for the State Duma to begin adopting such laws. By the way, this law can be made retroactive - that is, all this should apply not only to monuments from the moment the law was adopted, but also to all past demolished monuments,” Matveychev said.
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