Russia considers sanction against Poland over Soviet monuments

Russian senators are calling on President Vladimir Putin to put sanctions on Poland for recent de-communization laws that would result in tearing down any public monuments that seem to glorify communism or “any other totalitarian” regime. This would affect numerous monuments build during the cold war period when Poland was an ally of Soviet Union, which praise Soviet soldiers who contributed to defeating Nazi Germany. Around 600,000 Soviet soldiers died in Poland during World War II. Russian lawmakers asked Putin to put “limiting measures” on Polish MPs who voted in favor of the new law, which according to Moscow breaks several different treaties signed between the countries in the 90s that secure the preservations of Red Army memorials. Poland, however, has dismissed criticisms of the law on such grounds, saying that Russian officials are deliberately trying to “discredit” Poland, and that the law “does not aim to and is not directed at changing laws concerning monuments which form part of a burial place for Red Army soldiers,” according to Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement last week.Ministry.