MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti) – CNN has begun an inquiry into how it included a memorial to Soviet soldiers from World War II in a list of the world’s ugliest monuments.
Representatives of the TV channel apologized for its action in a meeting Thursday with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and said that an “internal investigation” had begun.
“CNN representatives expressed their sincere regret about the incident,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “An internal investigation is being carried out into the publication of this list, which defiled the memory of those who died in the war against Nazism.”
CNN’s list of the world’s ugliest monuments included the Courage monument at the Brest Fortress, the site of the first major fighting between Soviet forces and the invading Nazi German army in June 1941.
Soviet soldiers fought desperately to defend the fortress for longer than expected, and it has since become a symbol of Soviet resistance during the war.
CNN withdrew the article and apologized “for the unintended offense.”
