The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to Japan's request to remove the monument: It is as absurd as asking the wind not to blow and the sun not to shine.

China News Service, September 7. According to the Russian TASS news agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova commented on the 6th on the 6th in response to Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's request for Russia to dismantle the monument to the victory over militaristic Japan, saying that this is as absurd as asking "the wind not to blow and the sun not to shine." Don't spread the "disease" of ignoring your country's history to other countries.

Image source: Screenshot from foreign media reports

According to reports, Zakharova said: "Our territory is protected by our ancestors, our history is based on facts, and our memories are engraved on monuments." Zakharova pointed out that Japan ignores its own history and does not spread this "disease" to other countries.

According to a report by Russia's "Newspaper Network" on the 6th, Oleg Matvechev, a member of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said that World War II ended with Japan's unconditional surrender, and the monument in Khabarovsk was erected for this purpose. Against this background, Japan's request to demolish the monument is "ridiculous."

Image source: Screenshot from foreign media reports

Ovsienko, deputy chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society, said that the destroyed chrysanthemum pattern on the monument is a symbol of militaristic Japan. Ovsienko stressed that designing the monument in this way is correct and consistent with historical facts.

Previously, the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk held an unveiling ceremony on the 4th for a monument commemorating the victory over militaristic Japan. The monument is currently the largest monument in Russia commemorating the victory over militaristic Japan. It was built in cooperation with the Russian Military Historical Society and the Khabarovsk Territory Government. In the center of the monument is a 15-meter-high statue of a Soviet soldier, representing the Soviet Red Army that defeated the main force of the Japanese Kwantung Army. The soldiers were holding long guns, and a nearby boundary monument with a chrysanthemum pattern was smashed in half.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae posted a bilingual message in Japanese and Russian on the social media platform on the 5th, saying that this is an issue related to the sentiments of the Japanese people and is completely unacceptable, urging Russia to immediately remove Japan-related monuments. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also issued a statement calling on Russia to dismantle it.