Slavín is a Russian foot set in Slovakia, says historian

The Kremlin exploits the Slavín monument to this day.

The Slavín monument in Bratislava. (Source: SME - Marko Erd)

When someone painted Bratislava's Slavín monument with Ukrainian colours at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the media talked about vandalism; Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo called it a disgrace; the Speaker of the Parliament Boris Kollár saw it as an unforgivable act; General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka spoke of gross disrespect; and the Russian Embassy federation said desecration.

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The Russian Federation Investigative Committee opened criminal proceedings because "the illegal act was directed against the interests of Russia".

Only the Foreign Affairs Ministry reminded Moscow to "look at the reality of huge public solidarity with Ukraine, attacked without reason by the Russian Federation."

"At Slavín, no one mocked the victims or downplayed their suffering - they just added another layer of possible meaning in relation to a very emotional situation. It was shocking to hear about disrespect, because it was the colours of a nation's members who are also buried there. Did not the alleged delinquent actually pay tribute to them by chance? It was that disinformation spree that revealed an unprocessed political bomb still associated with Slavín to this day," says Alexandra Kusá, Director of the Slovak National Gallery and art historian.

"When it comes to the paint-over, it was interesting to watch how major players jumped on the pro-Kremlin propaganda train and exclusively called it everything from crime to vandalism. However, to be precise, it was a symbolic act aimed at the main visual part of Slavín, not touching the graves, so any talk about desecration or dishonour is out of place."

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According to Kusá, the problem lies in the very divisiveness of the monument that, from the beginning, performed two functions. It was never just a cemetery with buried soldiers from the end of World War II. At the same time, however, it manifested the dominance of Moscow. And it fulfils this function, at least in Russian eyes, to this day.

Ideological symbol of the Kremlin

"Even its original name, the Red Army Memorial, and later the Soviet Heroes Memorial, highlighted the army, so it was not supposed to be about respect for the fallen, but about political consequences. These two functions already created complications for the creators of the monument during its implementation, and Slavín is still causing them to this day," believes the art historian.

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Her findings are based on research in original documents, now stored in the Archives of the City of Bratislava. Dozens of pages dating from the construction of Slavín show that it was directed by comrades from Moscow from the very beginning.

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