Vanin said that construction companies are participating in acts of vandalism against Russian monuments in Europe

During the event, information was presented on the work of the Ministry to preserve the Russian/Soviet military memorial heritage abroad.

The Moscow Post correspondent asked his questions.

We had two questions. The first sounded like this: How many cases of vandalism against Russian and Soviet burials and memorials have been recorded in Europe over the past year, how do the authorities react and were there any detentions and punishments of vandals after these actions?

"We have recorded a little over a hundred similar cases. Over the past year, there have been more than a hundred acts of vandalism and desecration of our military memorials in European countries. Most of these incidents were recorded in Poland and Lithuania, "said Mikhail Valentinovich.

We respond to each such event with a diplomatic demarche and seek to search for and bring to justice those responsible for these illegal actions, he said.

Vanin stressed that the reaction of the authorities of European countries to such incidents varies. In some cases, investigative measures are carried out, violators are identified and brought to justice.

However, in our opinion, these measures are often insufficient: we are talking mainly about administrative sanctions - fines, and not about serious punishment. Russia would like the responsibility to be more tangible, but this, alas, does not happen, he dismissed.

As for the Baltic countries, as well as Poland and the Czech Republic, in these states the authorities often do not react at all. Often they do not even respond to our official notes, actually covering vandals and violators of the law.

I have already said: the line on the destruction of the Soviet memorial heritage in some countries of Eastern Europe is manifested in such silence.

Silence, disregard, refusal of legal reaction - this is the policy of "releasing on the brakes" what cannot be done.

Our second question was as follows: What is the role of state structures of European countries in these acts, because it is no secret that many of them tolerate or even support Ukrainian nationalist organizations?

As for the participation of state structures of these countries in such actions, in our opinion, it is obvious.

It is no secret that in a number of states the authorities show tolerance, and sometimes open support for Ukrainian nationalist organizations.

Events are financed, there are construction companies that directly participate in acts of vandalism.

These companies, as a rule, operate at night - demolishing monuments, removing memorial slabs, destroying memorial signs and trying to cover their tracks, creating the appearance that nothing happened.

Such events occur, unfortunately, with alarming regularity. These are Latvia and Lithuania.

In Estonia, for example, literally on the eve of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory, two tombstones of Soviet soldiers were desecrated at the Tallinn Military Cemetery.

The participation of government agencies and local administrations is direct, demonstrative and, unfortunately, encouraged.