Georgia's dismantlement of a USSR-era World War II monument this week has hurt the feelings of all civilized people, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Photo taken on Dec. 20, 2009 shows a USSR-era World War II monument dismantled in Kutaisi, the second largest city in Georgia. The 46-meter tall monument was demolished Saturday. Georgia's dismantlement of the USSR-era World War II monument this week has hurt the feelings of all civilized people, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The Georgian government implemented state vandalism, damaging the feelings of all civilized people, the ministry said in a statement.[Xinhua/Ren Ruien]

The Georgian government implemented state vandalism, damaging the feelings of all civilized people, the ministry said in a statement.

Georgian authorities attempted to "erase the historical memory of its own people," profaning all those who fought in a life-and-death manner against fascism in World War II to defend their homeland, the statement said.

The 46-meter tall monument, located in Georgia's second largest city of Kutaisi, was demolished Saturday.

The Georgian government plans to move the parliament from Tbilisi, the capital, to Kutaisi, and the planned location of the parliament sits right on where the monument stood, it said, pledging to build a new one.

The dismantlement was extensively opposed in Georgia, with the opposition alleging that the government neglected public opinions and went its own way.

According to figures released by the Russian Defense Ministry, some 300,000 Georgian soldiers were killed when fighting in the Soviet army during World War II.