Photo credit: Ivan Konev in Prague, 1945. Karel Hájek / en.wikipedia.org (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The administration of Prague - 3, one of the districts of the Czech capital, decided to change the name of the street, which bears the name of Marshal Konev, RIA Novosti reports. The name of the famous military leader was given to the street in 1946. The Soviet commander led the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which in May 1945 drove the Nazis out of Prague.
According to local media, the decision was preceded by a rather heated discussion, which lasted for two hours. As a result, the renaming of the street was supported by the majority. Three people chose to abstain, and two did not participate in the vote. Not a single vote was cast against.
The street can be given its pre-war name. There is also a chance that it will be named in honor of the first head of the district.
The decision has yet to be approved by the city mayor's office, but some of its representatives approved the actions of their colleagues in advance.
Earlier, Marshal Konev was deprived of the title of honorary citizen of the capital of the Czech Republic. He was awarded this status a month after the end of the Great Patriotic War.
The monument to Marshal Konev adorned Prague for 40 years and was dismantled a month before the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Russian embassy in the Czech Republic saw this as a special cynicism and called the dismantling of the monument "reprisal".
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case in connection with the demolition of the monument.
The plans to dismantle the monument were opposed by former Czech President Milos Zeman, who called the situation a shame for the Czech Republic.
Russkiy Mir
