Bohdan Lepkyi’s grave desecrated in Kraków: Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry calls it provocation. PHOTO
On the night of 5 July, at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków, unknown individuals vandalised the grave of the eminent Ukrainian writer, scholar and professor Bohdan Lepkyi, stealing a bas-relief from his headstone.
This was reported by the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heorhiy Tykhyi, according to Censor.NET, citing ‘Interfax-Ukraine’.
A deliberate provocation
"We regard this act of vandalism as a deliberate provocation aimed at further fuelling hostility between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland," Tykhyi told journalists.
He added that the Consulate-General of Ukraine in Kraków had immediately contacted the police, the administration of the Rakowicki Cemetery and the Kraków city authorities, calling for a thorough investigation to be carried out, for all the circumstances of the crime to be established, for those involved to be identified, for urgent measures to be taken to return or restore the stolen bas-relief, and for adequate security to be provided at the burial site.
Ukraine is counting on a response from the Polish law enforcement authorities
"We expect a prompt investigation into all the circumstances of this act of vandalism, for those responsible to be held to account in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Poland, and for effective measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future," Tykhyi concluded.
