Eastern Europe was dotted with tens of thousands of monuments honoring the Soviet Red Army soldiers who fought in World War II. But the defeat and expulsion of the Nazis was accompanied by the occupation of several countries by the Russians and their incorporation into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — founded on December 30, 1922, almost 100 years ago. The monuments are like this symbols of liberation, but also of occupationwith the weight of the second growing considerably after the invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
The attack on the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state brought together initiatives to support Ukraine and repudiate Russian attacks, from the United States to Turkey, with countries bordering Russia (or close enough) to fear for their safety. For the Baltic States, now with Western democracies, the Russian occupation does not bring good memories and the invasion of Ukraine opened badly healed wounds. In support of Ukraine, but also for historical truth, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are removing Soviet monuments from their prominent places.
Over time, many of the Soviet monuments were reserved, not so much to remove them, but because they were no longer cared for and ceased to have the symbolic importance that had been attributed to them. Some were withdrawn after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, others in a new wave in 2015 -after the annexation of Crimea-, but it was the invasion of Ukraine in February this year that motivated the Baltic States to create new laws that They forbade glorification. of totalitarianism and authoritarianism and come up with a plan to remove all (or almost all) Soviet monuments from public space by the end of this year (some examples here).
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Source: Observadora
