"Victims of the dictatorship"

Graffiti in Vienna at Russian memorial honors Navalny

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

With two large portraits of Alexei Navalny on the wall behind the Soviet hero monument in Vienna's city center, the Schwarzenberg family has been paying tribute to the Russian politician, who died in a prison camp in February, since Tuesday. "The monument (from 1945, note) commemorates victims of the dictatorship and Mr. Navalny is an obvious victim of the dictatorship," said Maximillian Schaffgotsch from the Princely Schwarzenberg Family Foundation.

The suggestion was made in a discussion group with NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger, journalist Hans Rauscher and the head of the Schwarzenberg family, Johannes Schwarzenberg, said the foundation board member. Schaffgotsch emphasized that Navalny's portrayals were certainly also in the spirit of the recently deceased head of the Schwarzenberg family, Karel Schwarzenberg, who, unlike many others, was not mistaken in his assessment of the current Russian ruler.

Wall is part of the family palace
In 2022, the former Czech Foreign Minister and his son Johannes had already ensured that the wall belonging to the family palace on the edge of Schwarzenbergplatz was painted blue and yellow as an expression of solidarity with Ukraine and as a reminder of the participation of Ukrainians in the liberation of Vienna in 1945.

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The Austrian graffiti artist duo Joel Gamnou was commissioned by the foundation to spray two portraits of the Russian opposition leader on this background, each based on media images: Behind the pillars of the Soviet hero monument, a subject with Navalny can now be seen, showing him in a suit and tie at a historic court hearing almost ten years ago, as well as a well-known motif of the politician with hands in the shape of a heart.

Criticism of the Schwarzenberg initiative came on Wednesday from the "Coordination Council of the Organization of Russian Compatriots" in Austria (KSORS), which is close to the Russian embassy: "This (the Navalny portraits, note) not only insults the memory of Soviet warriors, but is also a cynical disregard for the lessons of history about the terrible effects of fascism," the loose umbrella organization wrote on Facebook. There was also talk of the continued "malicious use of the wall behind the Soviet heroes' memorial" for "political purposes".

Navalny memorial repeatedly vandalized
After an improvised Navalny memorial opposite the Russian embassy in Vienna was destroyed for the second time at the weekend, activists from the "Russians against war" initiative have once again brought flowers to Vienna's Reisnerstraße in recent days and also put up posters on a construction fence. In Russian, they read something like "Hello, here is Navalny (again)". However, the current memorial is much more modest than its predecessors.

The Vienna public prosecutor's office is now dealing with the repeated removal of the memorial. "The incidents on March 16 and 23 were investigated and established by the State Office for State Protection and Counter Extremism", explained a spokeswoman for the Vienna State Police Directorate. The results of the investigation have been communicated to the Vienna public prosecutor's office in the form of a report, which will now examine whether the facts established are of criminal relevance and whether an investigation will be initiated.