Russian Embassy: Estonia mocks remnants of Soviet soldiers
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Tallinn’s liberation from Nazi occupation, Russia’s Chargé d’Affaires in Estonia Lenar Salimullin said that the excavation of Red Army soldiers’ graves and their exhumation in Estonia is an act of vandalism. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
Estonia’s actions were assessed as vandalism
Salimullin noted the desire of Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal to get rid of monuments to Red Army soldiers who “gave freedom to the current generation of Estonians at the cost of their own lives.” He called the exhumation of the remains of Soviet soldiers a recent trend. The diplomat emphasized that such reports are received regularly.
We strongly condemn such antics of gravediggers, we consider them as acts of state vandalism aimed at revising the results of the Second World War. Especially since the shameful mockery of fallen soldiers occurs against the background of an emphatically respectful attitude towards monuments to Nazi collaborators
Earlier, the Russian Embassy sent a note to the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the exhumation of the remains of Red Army soldiers. The diplomatic mission stated that the transfer of the bodies of Soviet soldiers, which began in the village of Tsooru in Võru County, contradicts the obligations assumed by Tallinn under the Geneva Convention.
The world community refused to condemn Tallinn’s decisions
International structures are not responding to Russia’s calls for a legal assessment of Estonia’s actions in excavating and exhuming the remains of Soviet soldiers, Salimullin added. He noted that the organizations refuse to comment on the “immoral actions of the Estonian leadership.”
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In addition, under the current conditions, the Russian diplomatic mission in Estonia “continues the painstaking work of caring for the Soviet military memorial heritage sites remaining in the republic,” which symbolize the common victory over Nazism.
In July, the Russian Embassy in Tallinn sent a note of protest to the Estonian Foreign Ministry calling for the relocation of Soviet soldiers’ burial sites to be stopped. The diplomats also demanded that the destruction of Soviet military memorial heritage sites be stopped.
Earlier, the remains of Soviet soldiers were reburied in Estonia
In 2022, the remains of Soviet soldiers were reburied in Estonia from a mass grave. The country’s authorities decided that it would be better to move them from public places. In particular, work was carried out to rebury the remains of Soviet soldiers in a mass grave in Raadi Park and move the tombstone to the Tartu City Museum.
War victims buried in the park should find eternal rest in the cemetery
According to the Estonian War Museum, about 250 Soviet soldiers were buried in Raadi. The director of the institution, Hellar Lille, specified that the exact number of those buried will be known as a result of excavations.
Prior to this, the Estonian parliament adopted the law “On the Protection of Military Graves”, which allows the dismantling of the monument to the Liberator Soldier and the reburial of the remains of Soviet soldiers from the mass grave in the center of Tallinn. The Russian State Duma published a statement in connection with this decision, according to which Russian deputies refused to continue contacts with political forces in Estonia that supported the initiative.
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