On Wednesday, Poland expressed its outrage regarding the removal of military insignia from a Polish cemetery in Russia, which Warsaw condemned as a “provocation” and an effort to meddle in its upcoming presidential election.
During World War II, the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, executed approximately 22,000 Polish officers in locations such as the Katyn forest in western Russia, as well as in Kharkiv, now part of Ukraine, and Mednoye in Russia.
The Polish Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday that it received information from the Polish embassy regarding the damage inflicted on a Polish monument at the War Cemetery in Mednoye.
According to the ministry, Polish military crosses “have been removed from the cemetery’s monument.”
“We perceive this shocking provocation not only as an attempt to disrupt Poland’s presidential election but also as a typical tactic employed by Russia to reshape history,” the ministry stated.
The second round of Poland’s presidential election will see pro-European candidate Rafał Trzaskowski face off against nationalist contender Karol Nawrocki on June 1.
The Polish officers whose remains were discovered at Mednoye had been captured by the Soviet army following its invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939.
For many years, the Soviet Union assigned blame for the atrocity to Nazi Germany.
“We call on the Russian authorities to promptly restore the cemetery to its original state,” declared the Polish foreign ministry.
The cemetery’s administration confirmed on its website that military symbols had been removed due to “violations of federal law.”
Since the onset of Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has, as a steadfast ally of Kyiv, accused Russia of launching hybrid assaults and orchestrating sabotage activities on its land.
In May, Poland announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Krakow, accusing Russia of orchestrating an arson attack on a large shopping center in Warsaw the previous year.
Previously, Warsaw had already mandated the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, citing alleged sabotage attempts by Moscow within Poland and allied nations.
