Monument has become focus of a row between the Czech capital and its Russian embassy

A statue of a second world war Red Army general repeatedly targeted by vandals has been covered with a tarpaulin amid an escalating row between Czech officials and Russia’s embassy in Prague over its status.

Authorities in the Czech capital’s Bubeneč district put the imposing monument honouring Marshal Ivan Konev under cover after saying they were no longer prepared to keep cleaning it following repeated paint and graffiti attacks.