Russia reacts to ban on Soviet symbols

MOSCOW – Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has responded angrily to legislation passed in Ukraine on April 9 that bans the use of Soviet-era symbols and could require the removal or demolition of all monuments from Ukraine’s Soviet past. In a statement on April 10, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the attempts of Ukrainian authorities to erase memories of the country’s past would lead to large problems in Ukrainian society. The statement criticized Ukraine’s ban of “propaganda of the totalitarian Communist and Nazi regimes,” saying Kyiv was using “totalitarian methods” to liquidate parties and organizations and attack “freedom of the press, opinion, or conscience.” The statement said Russia “continues to watch with alarm” the efforts of Ukrainian authorities to wipe out the “heroic past of the people of Ukraine.” Officials in Kyiv see their history in the 20th century differently, viewing the period between 1939 and 1945 as a fight against Nazi Germany and Soviet authorities. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS, Interfax and Reuters)