In Lviv they want to exchange the ashes of the legendary intelligence officer for captured punitive forces
On February 7, the executive committee of the Lviv City Council did not allow the transfer of the remains of the legendary intelligence officer Nikolai Kuznetsov to his relatives in Russia.
This was reported in the local news agency Zaxid, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Members of the executive committee decided to postpone the corresponding decision until they receive a conclusion from the SBU and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And the mayor said that at a time when Ukrainian citizens are in Russian captivity, it is impossible to consider the issue of returning the remains of an NKVD agent,” the message says.
The remains of Nikolai Kuznetsov, who was buried on the Hill of Glory in Lvov in 1960, want to be taken by his niece Margarita Bryukhanova in order to rebury the hero’s ashes in Yekaterinburg.
“I would like to see this issue addressed as part of public policy. We know how many of our guys are in captivity today; today we are suffering from Russian aggression. Therefore, it is very important that the SBU and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have a clear position on this issue. If this helps free our guys from captivity, we will definitely move in the wake of our state’s policies. This is a matter of the state,” said Lvov Mayor Andrey Sadovyi during the consideration of this issue.
Kiev journalist Andrey Manchuk commented on the incident on his Facebook page.
“The intelligence officer’s grave is constantly vandalized, and he himself is vilified as a Soviet saboteur who criminally shot at our European allies. But they don’t give up the remains, offering to exchange them for Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Manchuk was indignant.
Let us remind you that Nikolai Kuznetsov is a Hero of the Soviet Union, a legendary intelligence officer and partisan who personally eliminated 11 generals and high-ranking officials of the occupation administration of Nazi Germany.
In Lviv, the burial place of Nikolai Kuznetsov was repeatedly desecrated by nationalists, and in March 2019, a bronze bas-relief from the intelligence officer’s grave was stolen.
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