Russia to request Japan to help search for 600 missing Soviet soldiers

MOSCOW, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will turn to Japan for help in
the search for any information about 600 Soviet soldiers got missing in
battles in Mongolia at the two-day consultations on the problems of
military memorial cooperation of the countries that open in Tokyo on
Tuesday, spokesman for the Logistic Services of the Russian Armed Forces
Vladimir Drobyshevsky told Itar-Tass.
"During the consultations that will last until October 6 Russia will
request for the search in the Japanese Archives for the information about
the fate of 600 Soviet servicemen, who got missing in the battles of the
Khasan Lake and of the Khalkhin-Gol River," he noted. "High on the agenda
of the consultations will be the problems of fulfilling this April's
intergovernmental agreement on prisoners of war kept at the prison camps,"
the spokesman said.
"The Japanese partners are planning to request for providing the
information about Japanese citizens, who died at the camps for prisoners
of war in the Soviet Union, the access of Japanese specialists to Russian
Archives to study corresponding materials, care for Japanese tombs in
Russia and installation of monuments," Drobyshevsky specified. "Russia is
planning to raise and discuss in Tokyo the prospects for signing a
document that would add to the current intergovernmental agreement with
due account of the accumulated experience of cooperation in military
memorial issues with other countries," the spokesman said.
Chief of the Defence Ministry administration for commemoration of
servicemen killed protecting Motherland, Alexander Kirilin and
representative of the Russian Defence Ministry in Beijing Vladimir
Kozhemyako will represent the Russian Defence Ministry at the
consultations. "According to Kirilin, Russian military officials will
request of Japan to specify the location of numerous sole Russian tombs of
the Russia-Japan War times in Japan," Drobyshevsky underlined.
-0-baz/kud