"Betrayal of one's own history": how the Soviet legacy is being destroyed in the Baltics

The Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia opened a criminal case on the fact of the demolition of the monument to soldiers-liberators in Riga.

This is stated in the message of the department.

“Actions to destroy the monument to the Soviet wars are directed against the interests of the Russian Federation in matters of preserving the historical memory of the activities of the USSR during the Second World War and the decisive role in the victory over Nazism,” the UK reports.

The actions of Riga to demolish the monument were condemned both in the Federation Council and in the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

Thus, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, in a RT commentary said that, unlike the Latvian authorities, far from everyone in the Baltic Republic "historical memory has atrophied."

“The actions of the Latvian authorities cannot cause anything but indignation.

In Riga, they forgot who brought them freedom, independence from fascism at one time.

Historical memory must be preserved.

As soon as monuments begin to be demolished, expect trouble.

This is the law of life, which, unfortunately, is not assimilated by everyone, ”Krasin said.

In turn, Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, called the actions of the Latvian authorities to dismantle the monument to the liberators of Riga “clear signs of neo-Nazism”.

“This is a betrayal by Latvia of its own history, trampling on the memory of those who saved the Latvian people from the Nazi invaders.

Such a criminal attitude to historical justice will cost Latvia dearly, which, in Russophobia, is trying to surpass even its overseas curators.

The Baltic countries are waging war on monuments so zealously, as if with the dismantling of each monument it is possible to destroy the heroic past.

But they will not succeed: the war with historical truth will not be won, ”Bessarab emphasized in an interview with RT.

On August 23, the demolition of the monument to the liberators of Riga from the Nazi invaders began in the capital of Latvia.

According to eyewitnesses in social networks and local media, dismantling work began in the morning: builders and tractors appeared at the foot of the monument, an excavator began to work, which demolished the steps, parts of the monument were unloaded into a garbage container.

Three sculptures of soldiers related to the composition of the monument have already been demolished.

It is also reported that the territory of the object is fenced, and police officers are on duty at the monument.

Earlier, a rally was held against the demolition of the monument to the liberators of Riga, law enforcement officers detained at least six activists, local media reported.

According to the Delfi portal, about 50 people gathered on the territory near the monument, some of them chanted the slogan “Fascism will not pass!”, Some of the protesters had red flowers in their hands.

On Tuesday evening, dramatic events continued.

It is reported that from among the protesters, the police took away from the place of the action about 40 people.

According to eyewitnesses, those who came with flowers, candles, and even those who simply sang Soviet songs were detained.

At the same time, earlier the authorities of the capital of the republic banned the Russian Union of Latvia party from holding a demonstration against the demolition of the monument in Victory Park, for which an application had previously been filed.

As stated in the party, "the authorities were so scared" that they not only banned the rally near the monument, but also began to install fences "so that physically people could not come there."

Earlier, the mayor of the Latvian capital, Martins Stakis, said that the monument to the liberators of Riga would be destroyed after the demolition, since the Museum of the Occupation did not recognize any of its parts as having artistic value.

Let's remind, on May, 10th city municipal services have removed by a tractor the flowers assigned to a monument to liberators of Riga, and later the Riga thought has voted for demolition of a monument.

This decision was supported by the President of Latvia, Egils Levits.

During his address to the residents of the republic, he called the monument "an object of Russian propaganda", which has "toxic radiation" and which, in his opinion, should be dismantled.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the actions of the Latvian authorities "an orgy in relation to monuments", which not only destroys the foundation of normal interstate relations, but also "provokes an interethnic conflict in Latvian society."

• Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

“Such actions cannot be called anything other than blasphemy and mockery of the sacred memory of the fallen,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment about the incident with flowers laid at the monument to the liberators of Riga from Nazi invaders.

According to her, this is the most famous memorial in Latvia and in the entire Baltic region, to which hundreds of thousands of residents of the capital come every year on May 9, "to pay tribute to the heroes-liberators."

Vandalism in Estonia and Lithuania

Recall that cases of such vandalism against Soviet monuments became more frequent after the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Thus, the inhabitants of the Estonian Narva still cannot come to terms with the actions of Tallinn, which ordered the dismantling of the monument to the T-34 tank.

According to media reports, new flowers and candle arrangements appear in its place every day.

According to Tallinn, the T-34 tank after dismantling will be in the Estonian War Museum.

“We will not give Russia the opportunity to use the past to sow division in our home,” said Kaya Kallas, Prime Minister of the Republic.

“Given how quickly tension and confusion around monuments are growing in Narva, we must act quickly in the interests of ensuring public order and protecting internal security ... so that they (monuments.

) do not have time to sow even more discord and do not reopen old wounds.”

Kallas also said that the mass grave of the fallen in World War II in Narva "will receive a new tombstone and will remain the place where you can adequately honor the memory of the dead."

In turn, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu noted that Russia and its special services allegedly want to use the monuments to escalate tension in Estonian society.

“We cannot afford an internal split.

These monuments were created to celebrate the re-occupation of Estonia and have no place in our public space,” he said.

Later, the Estonian authorities reported that, in addition to the T-34 tank, a red star and two memorial plates from the monument to the Red Army soldiers in the park near the Narva Castle, a metal panel taken from the monument “Three bayonet", a red star and a memorial plate from the mass grave of those who died in World War II, located between the Narva River and the Victoria Bastion, as well as an anchor and a memorial stone from the monument to the Meriküla landing on Hiyemetsa tee in Narva-Jõesuu.

“The purpose of moving the military monuments from the public space of Narva and Narva-Jõesuu was to ensure internal security,” said Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets.

“In the context of the Ukrainian war (as the West calls Russia’s special operation in Ukraine.

) these monuments became a source of tension in society, therefore, in the interests of public order, they had to be quickly removed.”

According to the Estonian government, six Soviet-era military monuments have already been removed from the public space of Narva.

In particular, the commemorative plaque on the mass grave of those killed in the war, located between the Narva River and the Victoria Bastion, was "replaced with a neutral one."

• Dismantling of the monument to the T-34 tank in Estonia

• AP

• © Sergei Grits

Recall that recommendations for the demolition of Soviet monuments were prepared in Lithuania.

Such instructions were formulated by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Republic for the municipal authorities.

This document was prepared as questions arose in the municipalities about the process of dismantling Soviet memorials, the agency said in a statement.

Rise of Russophobia

As Nikolai Mezhevich, president of the Baltic Studies Association, noted in an interview with RT, the dismantling of monuments to Soviet soldiers in Latvia and Estonia, as well as Lithuania’s similar intentions, are the latest examples of how, after the start of the Russian special operation in the Baltic countries, attempts were intensified to “erase the Russian trace from history and evidence of the significance of the Soviet legacy”.

“The monument to the liberators of Riga from the Nazi invaders stood for decades of Latvian independence.

And suddenly it is decided to demolish it, active steps are being taken to dismantle it.

Is it a coincidence?

Of course not.

The Latvian authorities themselves admit that the Ukrainian events served as a trigger, against which Riga decided to further inflame anti-Russian sentiments in the country, including through the demolition of a monument in the capital - the main symbol of the Soviet heritage in the Baltic States, ”the expert said.

Mezhevich also noted that such "blasphemous actions" against the Soviet heritage by the authorities do not occur anywhere else in Europe, except for the Baltic states and Poland.

“I would like to note that nothing similar happens with similar monuments in other EU countries, for example in Germany and Austria.

And this despite the fact that Moscow now has generally difficult relations, both with Berlin, Vienna, and with most other European capitals.

But no one else is taking such steps as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

With the exception of perhaps Poland, which is also increasing its Russophobia, ”he said.

According to Mezhevich, the authorities in the Baltic States are whipping up hysteria around the demolition of Soviet monuments in order to distract society from internal problems and consolidate it.

“There is an extremely difficult economic situation in the Baltic countries, which has recently worsened due to rising prices for electricity, heating and, as a result, a rise in prices for a number of products.

It is not yet clear how these states will survive the winter.

Inflation continues to break records.

And in these unfavorable conditions for themselves, the only way for the Baltic authorities to stay in their posts is to push the Russian community against the Balts with their foreheads, and also to deprive the Latvians of true historical monuments, ”the expert noted.

In turn, the coordinator of the Union of Russian Communities in Europe, President of the Institute for European Studies Alexander Gaponenko said that the Baltic authorities are trying to "fight the material symbols of the Russians", including in Latvia.

“And they think that in this way they will build an ethnically pure society, in which there will be no foreigners.

They want to assimilate the Russians and destroy them as a collective identity.

But this is an erroneous point of view: with the destruction of monuments, the ethnos does not disappear, ”Gaponenko emphasized in a commentary on RT.

According to him, in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius they are mistaken, thinking that by eliminating the objects of the Soviet heritage, it is possible to destroy the memory of generations.

“They think that if the memorial stone is taken down, the grave is destroyed, then they will achieve their goal.

But the Russian people only rally because of this.

The Russian community in Latvia and other Baltic countries will keep the memory of the monument to the liberators of Riga from Nazi invaders.

The memory of the great deeds of our ancestors cannot be destroyed,” Gaponenko said.