Putin's aide against moving Konev's statue to Russia

The statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev should not be handed over from the Czech Republic to Russia, former Russian culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, now serving as an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has told journalists in Russia. Such a step might inspire other eastern European countries to follow suit and send Soviet memorials to Russia, Medinsky warned. The Czech Republic is ready to negotiate the transfer of Konev's statue to Russia, Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek told the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) in late April. Petricek said Russian authorities had asked the Czech Defence Ministry for the chance to take the statue and install it on its territory.