Moscow has launched a criminal investigation into Estonia’s Kaja Kallas over the destruction of Soviet WWII memorials

Russian authorities have issued arrest warrants for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop, over their roles in the demolition of Soviet WWII memorials in the Baltic state. Kallas announced in 2022 that the Estonian government had decided to remove all Soviet symbols from public areas “as soon as possible.”

Estonia as well as neighboring Latvia and Lithuania have increasingly targeted Soviet-era war monuments in recent years, describing them as symbols of occupation. The campaign has intensified since the start of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.

On Tuesday, TASS quoted unnamed Russian security officials as confirming that a “criminal case has been launched against Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop over the destruction and damaging of memorials to Soviet warriors.”

Kallas claimed in August 2022 that hundreds of remaining Soviet monuments in Estonia served as a reminder of historical “wounds,” especially in the context of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and therefore had to be removed.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused the Estonian government of waging “war with a common history.”

(non-archived version link: https://www.rt.com/russia/592373-russia-issues-arrest-warrant-estonian-pm/ )