Magnus Mæland, the municipality mayor, then angrily removed the Russian wreath — only to have a woman, described by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK as being Russian, put it back.
In 2019, on the 75th anniversary, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid wreaths at the monument and stood side-by-side with Norway’s foreign minister.
On Saturday, Konygin gave a speech at the war memorial in the same Norwegian border town.
Visiting locals from the Russian border town of Nikel faced the diplomat while residents from Kirkenes silently turned their back to him, according to the online outlet the Barents Observer.
Locals had already placed a wreath at the monument before Konygin arrived, with the text “to our Ukrainian heroes from 1944 and 2022," according to the Barents Observer.
Persons:
Magnus Mæland, ” Mæland, Marit Bjerkeng, Harald Sunde, Sergei Lavrov, Nikolai Konygin, Konygin
Organizations:
NRK, Russia’s, Observer, Locals, Barents Observer, Soviet Union
Locations:
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Russian, Kirkenes, Norway, Soviet, Norwegian, Russia, Ukraine, Nazi Germany, Nikel