Memorial to victims of Soviet repression taken down at cemetery in Russian city of Vladimir

A memorial to the victims of Soviet repression was taken down at a cemetery in the Russian city of Vladimir. This was reported by the news outlet Dovod, which referenced Greek Catholic priest Ilya Astapov.

Astapov noted that one of the plaques was dedicated to the memory of Archimandrite of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Klymentiy Sheptytsky, who was subject to repression for refusing to cooperate with the Soviet authorities. In 1995, the Israeli Yad Vashem Center for Holocaust Studies declared Sheptytskyy “righteous among the peoples of the world” for saving Jewish people during World War II. In 2001, he was blessed by the Catholic Church, independent outlet Mediazona noted.

Dovod wrote that the memorial included plaques dedicated to Lithuanian Foreign Minister and Catholic Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys and Polish politician Jan Jankowski. According to the publication, all of them died in Vladimir Central prison and were buried in a mass grave. Dovod also noted that this memorial complex continued to be visited by foreign diplomats even after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It’s unknown who exactly initiated the destruction of the memorial. However, shortly before it was dismantled, Dovod reports that pro-government media published articles criticizing the memorial. “In the city of Vladimir you can now see several memorial plaques that are not at all dedicated to residents of Vladimir or even to Russians. These are memorial plaques in honor of the ardent enemies of our country, responsible for the deaths of thousands of our compatriots,” said an SM News article published in late August.