The Russian Embassy counted 140 Soviet monuments destroyed in Estonia.
The Estonian authorities destroyed at least 140 war memorial sites. Neutral signs are installed in their place, the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Estonia reported.
"It belittles the achievement of the liberators of the Soviet heroes. It also identifies their memory with the memory of the German forces," said the Commissioner for the Affairs of the Russian Federation in Estonia Kamran Avilov.
A working group of the Estonian State Chancellor included 322 Soviet monuments in the catalogue. These objects are located on the territory of the Republic. The list includes monuments from the war period. It includes memorials in mass graves and memorial plaques. The authorities considered 244 objects that could be destroyed or replaced. Another 74 monuments were rated as neutral.
The representative of the diplomatic mission clarified the details of the replacement of the monuments. In most cases, signs with the inscription "Victims of the Second World War" appear on the site of destroyed monuments.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became the first republics of the former Soviet Union. These countries almost completely eliminated the Soviet heritage in monumental art.
Since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, cases of vandalism have become more frequent. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly pointed out the legal consequences of such actions. Destruction, damage or desecration of military graves is a criminal offense in the Russian Federation. This rule also applies to burial sites located abroad.