Zakharova: Russia sent a note of protest to Armenia over the act of  vandalism at the "Mother Armenia" memorial in Gyumri

ArmInfo.Russia sent a note of protest to Armenia over the act of vandalism at the "Mother Armenia" memorial to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War in Gyumri. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova during a briefing on June 18.

"A monstrous incident occurred in Gyumri. An act of vandalism against  the Mother Armenia memorial to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.  On June 10, reports of the desecration of this memorial emerged, and  this, of course, provokes deep outrage. This blasphemous act is not  simply hooliganism, but a targeted attack aimed at our shared  historical memory and an attempt to desecrate a great victory.  Naturally, we have sent a note of protest to the Armenian side," she  noted.

Zakharova added that servicemen from the 102nd Russian Military Base  immediately joined in the restoration of the memorial. She added that  the Russian Embassy in Yerevan had assessed the situation. A Russian  Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the report from Armenian  authorities regarding the detention of the alleged perpetrator  "excellent."

The Russian diplomat expressed confidence that justice would prevail  in this matter, but expressed bewilderment at the behavior of the  Armenian authorities. According to her, instead of giving a clear  assessment of what happened, the Armenian authorities decided to  remain silent, calling it a bad tradition.

At the same time, Zakharova emphasized that such connivance and the  unbridled anti-Russian campaign that accompanied the June  parliamentary elections in Armenia created fertile ground for such  actions.  "Furthermore, we have noticed attempts by some media  outlets associated with the Armenian authorities to portray the  incident as a deliberate provocation by the Russian side. You know,  you can make up anything you want, but it's not true. It's a lie,  vile and obvious, made up on the fly. It all defies common sense,"  she added. Zakharova emphasized that experience shows that one of the  key conditions for countries seeking rapprochement with the EU is  combating shared historical memory.