Konev statue cleaned up by members of public

Several people gathered on Saturday to clean-up the statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev which had been splattered with red paint on the anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. The police did not intervene, the ctk news agency reported.

The local administration had refused to remove the paint, saying it reflected public opinion and calling on the Russian Embassy to enter into talks on moving the statue to embassy grounds.

Marshal Konev is perceived as a controversial figure in the Czech Republic. Although he helped liberate the country from Nazi oppression, he was also involved in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.