Latvia on Thursday took down a Soviet-era monument in Riga following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite protests from the Baltic state’s ethnic Russian minority to keep it. Demolition machinery was used to remove the 79-meter World War II memorial, which has become a rallying point for Kremlin supporters in Latvia, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. Latvia, like fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania, is a NATO and EU member that has shown strong support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia. Built in 1985, the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders had featured statues of soldiers and a woman surrounding a central obelisk.
via mscow times: Latvia Removes Controversial Soviet Monument
siehe auch: Latvia brings down Soviet-era monument’s obelisk in capital A concrete obelisk topped by Soviet stars that was the centerpiece of a monument commemorating the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany has been taken down in Latvia’s capital of Riga (…) Heavy machinery was spotted behind a green privacy fence at the foot of the nearly 80-meter (260-foot) obelisk shortly before it was felled. The column, which had stood like a high-rise in downtown Riga, crashed into a nearby pond, causing a huge splash at Victory Park. A Latvian media outlet broadcast the event live as onlookers, some with Latvian flags wrapped around their shoulders, cheered and applauded.
By <a href=”//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Hejnjahns&action=edit&redlink=1″ class=”new” title=”User:Hejnjahns (page does not exist)”>Hejnjahns</a> – <span class=”int-own-work” lang=”en”>Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link