[MSN] Russia has approved the return to Germany the last of a set of 14th century stained glassed window panels taken from a church by the Red Army at the end of World War II, the government said.

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Russian gov't OKs return of final set of stained glass windows taken 
from Germany

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia has approved the return to Germany the last of a 
set of 14th century stained glassed window panels taken from a church by 
the Red Army at the end of World War II, the government said.
The return of the last six of 117 panels to Frankfurt an der Oder's 
Marienkirche church
would be the latest step by both countries to resolve the problem of 
«trophy art» _ art and other valuables that Russia has claimed as 
retribution for the damage the Soviet Union suffered in the war, which 
left about 27 million of its citizens dead.
The countries accelerated exchanges of looted art under the good 
relationship formed earlier this decade between President Vladimir Putin 
and then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
In 2002, 111 of the 12-meter-high (40-foot-high) panels, which are 
believed to be one of the only surviving medieval depictions of the 
Bible, were returned to the church in eastern Germany in one of the 
first major exchanges of looted art.
On Thursday, Russia's Cabinet proposed a bill to return the last six 
panels to Germany, according to a statement posted on its Web site.
The bill now goes to the lower house of parliament for approval.
It was not immediately clear why the six panels, which have been stored 
at Moscow's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, were being returned only now.
A woman who answered the phone at the museum said she knew nothing of 
the panels and said to call Monday.

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