Monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Serbia vandalised on anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion

Unknown individuals threw black paint on a monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on 24 February and removed the letters spelling his surname.

As reported by Serbian newspaper Blic, the Embassy of Ukraine in Serbia said it had received the news of the desecration of the Shevchenko monument with deep indignation.

It described the incident as a "shameful act" directed against a landmark of Novi Sad and an attempt to defile the memory of a symbol of the Ukrainian people.

"Such actions by vandals are aimed at undermining Ukrainian-Serbian relations. We urge the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Serbia to investigate the circumstances of this incident and bring those responsible to justice," the embassy said.

The bust of Shevchenko was installed in Novi Sad in February 2021 on the initiative of the Ukrainian-Rusyn community.

Unidentified perpetrators recently vandalised a monument to the Home Army, the predominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War, at the Central Cemetery in Szczecin, Poland.

Polish authorities have also investigated an incident in which a red-and-black OUN flag and the slogan "Glory to the UPA" were painted on a monument to the victims of the Volyn tragedy. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during the Second World War. The OUN (Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists) was a Ukrainian nationalist political group, and the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was its military wing, involved in armed resistance – ed.]