In Řeporyje, they want a memorial for the Vlasovites, the Russian embassy protests

Prague - The mayor of Prague's Řeporyje, Pavel Novotný (ODS), plans to build a memorial for the Vlasovites in his district, against which the Russian embassy in Prague has protested today. The plan will be discussed by the Řeporyje council on December 16. Novotný wants residents of the district to participate in the meeting and discuss the topic, he told ČTK. According to the Russian embassy, the memorial would violate the international obligations of the Czech Republic arising from the convention on the non-application of statutes of limitations for war crimes.

The so-called Vlasovites were citizens of the Soviet Union who were recruited into the Russian Liberation Army during German captivity. They fought against the Soviets together with the Germans from the beginning of 1945, but at the end of the war, they helped to liberate Prague. Their commander, Andrei Vlasov, was a Soviet general who was captured by the Nazis. After the war, he was executed by the Soviets.

For Russia, the Vlasovites represent a collaborationist armed formation created by Nazi Germany. "In accordance with the Charter of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, the crimes of Andrei Vlasov and his accomplices are qualified as participation in the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis and aiding them," the Russian embassy stated today on Facebook. If the memorial for the Vlasovites were built in Řeporyje, it would mean a violation of the Czech Republic's obligations under the 1968 Convention on the Non-Application of Statutes of Limitations for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, according to the embassy.

In response to the embassy's statement, Mayor Novotný said in a press release that Řeporyje, as a sovereign district, considers the embassy's position to be "interference in the internal affairs of the district."

The plan to build the memorial will be discussed by the Řeporyje council in mid-December. A call for residents living in Řeporyje to join the debate about the construction of the Vlasovites memorial will be published in the new issue of the town hall magazine, Novotný stated. According to him, people do not often attend local council meetings, but this time he would like them to express their opinions on the proposal. The councilors, according to Novotný, are united, and both the coalition partners and the opposition support the construction of the memorial, he further stated. The opposition's statements are being sought by ČTK.

In Řeporyje, according to Novotný, there are still witnesses to the events of May 1945, and it would be great if they could be present at the unveiling of the memorial. "The Vlasovites arrived in Řeporyje on May 6," Novotný said. "Řeporyje is considering commemorating the evening of May 6, 1945, with a memorial plaque, as this is when Generals Vlasov (health center, then villa) and Buňačenko (the building where the pharmacy is today, near the old school) took up residence here, and during a meeting, likely in the garden of today's health center, they decided on the attack on inner Prague, which fundamentally influenced the course of the Prague Uprising, as Mr. Žáček (historian and MP Pavel Žáček, ODS) said. The fate of Prague was effectively decided in Řeporyje," the district wrote on Facebook in January.

At the end of the war, Vlasovites helped the insurgents in Prague fight against the Germans. Approximately 300 of them died in the process. During the previous regime, their contribution to the liberation of the capital was silenced. Russia does not recognize their merits.

This August, the Russian embassy criticized Prague for not wanting to return a memorial plaque on the Old Town Hall commemorating the liberation of the capital by the Red Army led by Marshal Ivan Koniev. According to the Military Historical Institute, however, the text is historically inaccurate.