Several dozens of young people and members of the civic platform “Action 2012” protested near the monument to Ruler Stephan the Great during the festive concert held in the Great National Assembly Square on the occasion of the Victory Day, organized by the Embassy of Russia in Chisinau, IPN reports.

The protesters chanted anti-Rogozin (Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the special representative of Russia for Transnistria) slogans and demanded that the Russian army be pulled out from Moldova’s territory.

“We consider that May 9 should be a mourning day for commemorating our ancestors who were killed on foreign fronts after being involved in a foreign war against their will. If today is a holiday, it is not for us as Moldova only suffered as a result of World War II and the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia that resulted in famine, deportations and terror,” said Nicu Gusan, a member of the civic platform “Action 2012”.

The young people wanted to enter the central square of Chisinau to protest there, but were stopped by the police. There were altercations with the police, but no one was hurt.

In the concert, national artists sang songs from the time of the war in Russian. Russian singers Iosif Kobzon and Lev Leshchenko were the invitees of honor.

Dmitri Rogozin came to Chisinau on May 9, after visiting Tiraspol. He said he will discuss the significance of the day of May 9 with the Moldovan politicians. The head of the Government’s press service Lilia Gurez said the visit of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister to Moldova was a private one and no meeting of him and the interim Prime Minister Iurie Leanca had been arranged.