Russia Raps Japan's Request for Removal of Statue

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)--A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has criticized Tokyo's request to remove a new statue of a Soviet soldier destroying a stone marker bearing a chrysanthemum emblem, a symbol of Japan.

Japan should not interfere in the matter, Maria Zakharova, director of the ministry's Information and Press Department, told a press conference Wednesday.

The statue was put up in Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East to commemorate Moscow's World War II victory over Japan. It was unveiled in a ceremony Friday.

Requesting its removal, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the statue is "unacceptable" from the viewpoint of Japanese public sentiment.

Zakharova claimed the chrysanthemum emblem is a symbol of Japan's militarism. Russians, Chinese and others were killed with weapons etched with the emblem, Zakharova said, adding that Japan should repent forever.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]