The gravestones were defaced with insults against the leaders of Russia and Ukraine
Published 11 Jul, 2026 03:51
A monument at a Soviet World War II military cemetery in Leusden, the Netherlands, after it was vandalized on July 10, 2026. © Stichting Sovjet Ereveld
Russia has condemned the defacing of gravestones at a Soviet World War II military cemetery in the Netherlands.
The war memorial and around 150 gravestones marking the graves of POWs killed by the Nazis were vandalized with red paint in the town of Leusden on Friday. The inscriptions contain neo-Nazi, white supremacist and anti-Communist slogans, as well as insults directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
“There is no justification for such acts of vandalism,” the Russian Embassy in The Hague told RIA Novosti.
Dutch Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius denounced the vandalism as “completely unacceptable.”
“War graves are a final resting place and deserve respect,” she said on X.
Van oorlogsgraven blijf je af. Punt. De bekladding van het Sovjet-ereveld bij voormalig concentratiekamp Amersfoort is volstrekt onacceptabel. Oorlogsgraven zijn een laatste rustplaats en verdienen respect.https://t.co/N8wTbFsBSjpic.twitter.com/qEdrZonUnZ
— Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (@DefensieMin) July 10, 2026
A total of 865 Soviet soldiers are buried at the cemetery, including 101 POWs who died of starvation or were executed by the Nazis in the nearby Amersfoort concentration camp.
The cemetery in Leusden was previously targeted by vandals in November 2021.
Multiple monuments to Soviet soldiers have been vandalized or demolished across Europe since the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022. Russian embassies and consulates have also been targeted by vandals.
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In August 2022, authorities in Riga dismantled the iconic 79-meter obelisk built in honor of the Soviet troops who liberated Latvia from Nazi Germany.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the destruction of the memorial “unacceptable for a civilized country.”
