MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday harshly criticized a US court ruling fining it $50,000 a day for holding onto tens of thousands of religious books and manuscripts stolen from Jews during the Russian revolution and World War II.

Russia’s State Library and the Russian military archive have refused to give up the books, even after a US court ruled that the Brooklyn-based Chabad-Lubavitch group is the rightful owner. The country says the books are part of its national heritage.