Russia says historical truth of Nanjing Massacre indisputable

MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The historical truth of the Nanjing Massacre is beyond dispute, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

She made the remarks ahead of China's national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, observed annually on Dec. 13.

Recalling that hundreds of thousands of civilians were brutally murdered, Zakharova said this horrific tragedy "has become a symbol of the inhumanity and barbarity of Japanese militarism," and will forever be etched in the memories of people around the world.

The historical facts of the massacre were established by the rulings of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal, which, along with the Nuremberg Trials, form an immutable cornerstone of the contemporary international order, she stressed.

The Nanjing Massacre occurred after Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.