Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk criticized Alexei Makeev, his successor as ambassador to Germany, for refusing to lay flowers at the Soviet monument in Tiergarten on Victory Day RND.
“It was an unforgivable mistake to abandon the traditional wreath-laying ceremony since 2015 at the Tiergarten monument on 8 May.
In addition, Makeev’s refusal to the Bundestag to erect a monument to the millions of Ukrainian victims of Nazi terror in Berlin is a slap in the face to our ancestors, ”the statement said.
The Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Germany announced earlier this year that it deliberately refused to place wreaths and flowers at Soviet monuments or places with Soviet symbols in Berlin. Instead, the Ukrainian embassy decided to visit the German Neue Wahe memorial in memory of the victims of war and persecution.
When Melnyk was ambassador to Ukraine in 2014-2022, he was noted for a series of scandalous statements. He was appointed deputy foreign minister in November last year. He laid flowers in the Tiergarten park, including the year 2022, after the start of the special operation in Ukraine.
Fight in the Tiergarten…
Last Sunday, May 7, at the Soviet war memorial dead fight. Several children, accompanied by adults, climbed into the tanks and a Berlin policeman asked them to come down.
“A heated argument ensued between a 47-year-old man from the group and a 45-year-old man with the Ukrainian flag on his back. They say it’s about the war in Ukraine,” he writes. Berliner Zeitung.
The broadcast said things escalated when an elderly man punched an opponent and insulted him in an “anti-Semitic way”. The victim fell to the ground, after which the guard separated the people. The man with head injuries was taken to the hospital. The attacker later claimed that he was “just defending himself”.
…and ban flags
Recall that on May 7, a Berlin court partially lifted the ban on the display of Russian flags and symbols on Victory Day, allowing their use during the Immortal Regiment. But then the city police appealed this decision, radio station reports RBB.
As a result, the Berlin Administrative Court once again banned the hanging of the Russian and Soviet flags, as well as St. George’s ribbons, during the 9 May events.
Formerly Berlin Police announced Prohibition of using Russian and Ukrainian flags on Soviet monuments in Treptow Park, Tiergarten and Schönholzer Heide on 8 and 9 May. It does not apply to diplomats and veterans of World War II.
Law enforcement officials also noted that performing military songs, displaying symbols and appealing “could be used for approval or glorification due to the current situation” is prohibited. Special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Such a decision, according to the police, would allow “deserving respect for the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Soviet army.”
The newspaper also writes that while the Berlin Administrative Court lifted the ban on Ukrainian flags on monuments, Soviet and Russian symbols continued to be banned. Tagesspiegel.