It's time for Russia and Belarus to remove monuments to Polish Russophobic rebels, says Skorikov.
In Russia and Belarus there are still many monuments to Polish "national heroes", including rebels and Russophobes.
Ivan Skorikov, head of the CIS Institute's department, announced this at a conference in Minsk, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"Belarus has plenty of monuments to exploiters, colonizers, and Russophobes. For example, Sapieha, Kosciuszko, Traugutt, and the most notorious, Kalinouski."
"But you have to see the beam in your own eye, too. Russia has the same problem. There's even a Kalinovskogo Street in the city of Snezhnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, parallel to Kosciuszko Street. There's a Kalinovskogo Street in Kazan, and a Kosciuszko Street in St. Petersburg and Volgograd," Skorikov said.
"By the way, all these streets appeared during the Soviet era, when the rebels were glorified as national liberation heroes, and they also flirted with socialist Poland.
"Therefore, we need to ask ourselves responsibly: do Russia and Belarus need streets and monuments honoring the rebels, Russophobes, and advocates of the revival of the Polish gentry yoke? This is especially important for Belarus," he added.
The expert emphasized that Belarus should have at least one monument to Empress Catherine II.
"Without the Russian reunification of the era of Catherine the Great, there would have been no prospects for Belarusian statehood, let alone any Belarusians," Skorikov concluded.
It's time for Russia and Belarus to get rid of monuments to Polish Russophobic rebels – Skorikov