The decision, finalised by the committee in the presence of Slovenian Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Minister Anja Kopač Mrak, is expected to materialise by the end of July this year.

Political support for the memorial was first expressed at the highest level in March 2011, when the then Prime Minister Borut Pahor received his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Slovenia.

There are 39 locations in Slovenia where Russian soldiers are buried, with large graves at two locations near the Vršič mountain pass (NW), at Kalce near the town of Logatec (south of Ljubljana) and in the cities of Maribor and Murska Sobota.

The memorial, to be financed entirely by the Russian side, is envisaged in the Slovenia-Russia agreement on war graves, which entered into force in May 2014.

This will be the third memorial in Slovenia dedicated to Russian soldiers.

A monument in Murska Sobota honours Soviet soldiers and Yugoslav partisans victorious in WWII, while a chapel under the Vršič mountain pass commemorates Russian POWs from WWI. Ceremonies at Vršič are held annually at the end of July.