The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Marcin Pshidach, said that the Polish consul in Smolensk appealed to the Russian authorities demanding explanations after the Flag of Poland was removed from the memorial in Katyn in the Smolensk region. This was reported by Polish Radio.
“The Polish consul in Smolensk went to the cemetery in Katyn and confirmed the fact of the removal of the Polish flag from this memorial. He also turned to the Russian authorities who control this place, demanding explanations and indicating that such actions are completely unacceptable for the Polish side and testify about the absence of a civilized approach to the issue of memory of the dead, ”the politician said.
The Russian administration also removed the flag from the memorial in the Copper region.
The decision to remove the Polish flags was made by the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
The director of the Museum of Modern Russia, Irina Velikanova, in an interview with one of the Russian portals, said that the Polish flags were removed due to the political situation.
“The flags of Russia and Poland were a symbol of friendship between our peoples. Poland took an open hostile position in relation to the Russian Federation. Under such conditions, the presence of state symbols of the Republic of Poland on memorial venues is inappropriate,” she said.