Latvia’s Riga begins dismantling the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia, Delfi news portal reports.
Two excavators are working near the monument. One of them is removing the steps leading up to the monument. The area has been cordoned off.
Photo: Elizabete Krivcova / Facebook
Local police officers are standing guard near the location, with at least ten police vans seen at the scene.
On Monday, local officials started preparing for the dismantling of the monument. About 50 protesters gathered near it. Police detained seven people.
Screenshot: Delfi’s video
There are about 300 monuments, memorial plates and objects dedicated to the Soviet regime and army located in Latvia.
On 13 May, the Riga City Council ruled to dismantle the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia located in Riga. On 12 May, the Latvian parliament approved the bill amending a 1994 agreement between Latvia and Russia on the preservation of Soviet-era monuments in the country.
The monument was erected in 1985 in Victory Park in the historic centre of Riga. Local officials started to discuss its demolition following the Victory Day celebrations on 9 May.
On 16 August, the Estonian government dismantled the monument to the Soviet T-34 tank in Narva. In early August, Estonia decided to remove all Soviet monuments from the public eye.
