Prague strips Soviet WWII commander of honorary citizenship

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech capital has stripped a Soviet World War II commander of his honorary Prague citizenship. The Prague City Council ’s approved Mayor Zdenek Hrib’s proposal to revoke the honor bestowed in June 1945 on Soviet Marshal Ivan Stepanovic Konev. Konev led the Red Army forces that liberated large parts of Czechoslovakia from Nazi occupation in 1945 and also contributed to Prague’s liberation. He died in 1973. The mayor said he based his proposal on the general’s post-war activities, including his authorization of a Soviet bombardment that killed some 150 Czech citizens. After communism ended in 1989, Prague authorities stripped honorary citizenship from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.