EU state eyes mass demolition of WWII memorials – Moscow

Latvia plans to authorize fake archaeological research to remove monuments to Soviet soldiers, Russia’s intelligence service says

Authorities in Latvia are planning to remove Soviet memorials dedicated to those who died while driving out Nazi forces from the country during World War II, TASS reported on Monday, citing Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The demolitions, under the pretext of false archaeological research, are allegedly intended to overshadow the celebration of the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany on May 9.

Riga views the period when Latvia was part of the USSR as a foreign occupation. Along with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia, it has been working to erase landmarks related to that era, including memorials to Soviet soldiers killed during the war.

“The Latvian authorities, in their relentless drive to overshadow the May 9 celebration this year, are working on plans for the mass destruction of military memorials,” the SVR stated, as cited by the news agency.

Riga intends “to get rid of about a third of the monuments over the mass graves of Soviet liberator soldiers within the shortest possible time,” according to the SVR.

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The scheme allegedly involves carrying out fake archaeological excavations intended “at any cost, to debunk the existence of mass graves beneath the memorials.”

According to the SVR, Latvia has mobilized a team to desecrate the graves and fabricate “necessary” reports indicating the absence of burial traces “for a reasonable fee.”

It also asserts that the Latvian authorities “are going to start with the Orthodox Tornakalns Cemetery and the Military Brothers’ Cemetery located in Riga.”

Since declaring independence in 1991 Latvia has adopted a slew of policies that alienate the country’s sizeable ethnic Russian minority still living in the Baltic state, and removed several Soviet WWII memorials.

Soviet and Russian symbols are banned in the country, meaning that over the past two years, Latvian police have detained dozens of people during Victory Day celebrations.