Russia to investigate removal and demolition of Soviet monuments in Europe

The Russian Investigative Committee has reported that it will look into cases of removal and demolition of Soviet monuments in several European countries, especially in recent months after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

In the last week, the removal of a Red Army monument in Mariemburg, Denmark; a Soviet-era tank in Narva, Estonia; or a peace monument in Helsinki donated by the Soviet Union to Finland in the late 1980s has been publicized.

Also, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrikin, has urged the body to find out the causes of the desecration of a Soviet military cemetery in Weneuchen, Germany, allegedly at the hands of a neo-Nazi fanatic, Russian news agency TASS reports.

“These illegal actions are directed against Russia’s interests in the field of preserving the historical memory of the Soviet Union’s activities during World War II and the decisive role in the victory over fascism,” the Investigative Committee stressed.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine at the end of February, several Soviet monuments and memorials scattered throughout Europe, especially in the former Soviet republics and in Germany, have been vandalized in protest against the invasion or directly removed or demolished by the authorities.