MOSCOW. July 3 (Interfax) - Sergei Naryshkin, the chief of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and chairman of the Russian Historical Society, has accused Warsaw of escalating tensions between the Russian and Polish nations by passing legislation on June 22 which, inter alia, stipulates that monuments installed across the country in honor of the Red Army must be demolished.
Russia observes June 22 as the Day of Commemoration and Sorrow, as it was when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
"The organizers of this action know about special significance of this day to our society, to our people. They are also aware that more than half a million Soviet soldiers died on Polish soil. They also know about the role of Soviet military commanders, officers, and soldiers in liberating whole cities, and they know how they saved the cradle of Polish statehood, the beautiful city of Krakow, and also other Polish cities from complete annihilation," Naryshkin said at a general assembly of the Russian Historical Society on Monday.
The decision itself and the date when it was passed are "a planned action aimed at fuelling conflict between ordinary people," he said.
"Its organizers count on the escalation of mutual mistrust and aversion, which have lately become an essential attribute of the policy pursued by Polish authorities," he said.
On June 22 the Polish Sejm adopted amendments to the law on de-communization that envisage the demolition of some 500 monuments that "glorify Communism." The monuments are expected to be taken down after consultations with the Institute of National Remembrance. The law will not affect objects installed in cemeteries and not put on public display.