MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Moscow has urged the Austrian authorities to take urgent measures after the Soviet War Memorial in Vienna was vandalized on February 23, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary on Tuesday.
"We express our outrage at these events. We treat this incident as a blatant act of vandalism," the ministry said.
"In this context, a note of protest was lodged with the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, demanding urgent measures to repair any damage caused to the monument, identify those guilty and bring them to justice, as well as prevent similar incidents in the future," the ministry said.
Russia also called on the Austrian authorities to "take exhaustive measures to ensure that the memorial is reliably guarded."
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the facade of the Soviet War Memorial, located in the center of Vienna, was doused with black paint early on February 23.
"It is particularly outrageous that this crime was committed in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War, the year of Austria's liberation from Nazism and the end of World War II," the ministry said.