Ambassador Kuzmin pays homage to Russian soldiers dead in Romania: Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten

The Russian Ambassador to Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin, on Thursday brought homage to the soldiers from his country that died in Romania during the Second World War, emphasizing that their gesture will not be forgotten and made reference to "rushed attempts to falsify the history of the Great War." Kuzmin participated in a ceremony organized at the Monument of the Soviet Soldier in Bucharest on the occasion of the Defender of the Fatherland Day. "This notion of defender of the fatherland is very broad and has a particular importance for every citizen in our country. (...) Soldiers fought here not for conquering this land, but for freeing this land from foreign occupation," said the diplomat, according to the official translation. "Today we bring homage to the defenders of the fatherland. Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten," he said. "Unfortunately, today we see more attempts on the international arena, I would say rushed attempts to falsify the history of the Great War. These persons are trying to say that those who were aggressors are equal to those who fought to liberate peoples," he said and added that "such statements were heard even at the European Parliament." "We can recommend they read the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal, where it was written that Germany was the country that started the war, attacked Poland, which led to the great global conflict. This document is all the more valuable, because it was adopted by the persons who were contemporary to these events. This document was adopted by the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USA, the Great Britain and the Soviet Union," Valery Kuzmin said. According to the Russian Embassy, on Romania's soil there are 175 military cemeteries for Russian (Soviet) soldiers who fell in the Second World War. In total, according to the quoted source, 52,082 Soviet soldiers died in battle, while 10,915 perished due to disease in imprisonment in 12 camps for prisoners of war.AGERPRES(RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)