Russian intelligence earlier reported that Riga intends to remove WWII monuments over soldiers’ mass graves
FILE PHOTO: Scaffolding around a monument in Victory Park in Riga, Latvia. © Sputnik
Latvia’s reported plans to demolish Soviet-era war memorials from cemeteries in the capital Riga are “a disgrace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The plans were first reported on Monday by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), which said Latvian authorities intended to dismantle Soviet memorials under the guise of archaeological research, allegedly to overshadow the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany which Russia celebrates on May 9.
”To show such disrespect and treat the memory of those who saved you from fascism this way is a disgrace to the country. Woe to those who wage war against their own history,” Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.
Latvia considers its time under Soviet rule a military occupation and, like Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania, has been systematically removing symbols from that period – including WWII monuments honoring fallen Soviet troops.
According to the SVR, Riga plans to quickly remove about a third of the monuments over Soviet soldiers’ mass graves. The SVR claims the scheme includes staged archaeological digs aimed at debunking the existence of mass graves beneath the memorials. The operation will allegedly begin at Riga’s Orthodox Tornakalns Cemetery and the Military Brothers’ Cemetery.
Legislation adopted in Latvia in 2022 mandated the removal of monuments dedicated to Soviet and Nazi eras, while specifically excluding burial sites from its scope. In August of that year, authorities toppled the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders in Victory Park in the capital.
In October 2023, the Latvian Parliament, the Saeima, introduced a draft law to dismantle Soviet monuments in cemeteries and replace them with neutral markers such as crosses or plaques. The proposal sparked debate, with some MPs questioning its necessity and potential consequences. The bill has not yet been enacted.
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Since gaining independence in 1991 following the fall of the Soviet Union, Latvia has also implemented numerous policies that have marginalized its large ethnic Russian minority. The country bans Soviet and Russian symbols, resulting in dozens of arrests by Latvian police during Victory Day events over the past two years.