Zakharova criticizese Armenian authorities` attempts to reshape  Great Patriotic War events

ArmInfo.According to information available to the Russian Federation, the leadership of Artik city in the Shirak Province, along with higher authorities, intend to move forward with their plans regarding the memorial dedicated to local citizens who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War. This was stated on May 28 by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova during her weekly briefing in response to a question on the matter.

"As we understand it, there are plans to construct a fountain on the site of this memorial. Naturally, one cannot help but ask: is there really no other place for a fountain? Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the monument will simply be dismantled or if it will be relocated to another site, as our colleagues in Armenia had previously assured us," she said.

She went on to draw attention to the total lack of response from the authorities despite public dissatisfaction.

"We see that such plans do not go unnoticed by Armenian society, yet they remain ignored by the Armenian leadership. We see how people are speaking out against this decision, understanding that if this is indeed just a dismantling of the monument without relocation, it is sacrilegious. However, we see once again the absence of any reaction from Armenia’s leadership to these justified cries for help—justified given that they align with our shared history and world history—from people who are witnessing history being rewritten right before their eyes on specific examples," the diplomat noted.

At the same time, Zakharova expressed conviction that the situation surrounding this memorial reflects a far more dangerous global trend of erasing historical memory. She recalled that this trend was already evident in 2025, when statements whitewashing Nazis were aired on Armenian state television without drawing any reaction or condemnation from the republic's leadership. The diplomat added that neo-Nazism later reached Yerevan in the person of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and more recently, Yerevan has been systematically removing the phrase "Great Patriotic War" from CIS documents.

"The people of Armenia are aware of this policy by their leadership, which crosses out, blots out, and in every possible way erases the phrase 'Great Patriotic War' from joint documents. This is happening despite the immense heroism demonstrated by the Armenian people—the ancestors of today's Armenian citizens—during the years of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War. Is this what they call European narratives and the aspiration toward Europe? Is this how it manifests? I am certain that society in Armenia does not even fully comprehend what is happening on this track, because the people are precisely the ones ready to defend historical memory and fight for the glorious pages of their own history. After all, this is a part of their self-awareness, a part of the people, and a part of the country and state," Zakharova said, adding that individuals and nations that forget their past have no future.

Last summer, a scandal erupted in Armenia when it became known that the authorities in Artik were planning to secretly demolish a monument to those killed in the Great Patriotic War, which had been erected in 1965 to commemorate the victory over fascism. The city administration initially denied the reports but later confirmed the information. At the time, Mher Melkonyan, a Member of the Armenian Parliament from the "Armenia" faction, suggested that this move could be part of a targeted policy by the authorities to dismantle Armenian-Russian relations.