Monument to the soldiers of the Soviet Army — the liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from Nazi invaders in Victory Park on the left bank of the Dvina in Riga. File photoMOSCOW, Aug 22Latvian police detained at least six protesters against the demolition of the monument to the Liberators of Riga, according to the Delfi portal. Earlier, the authorities of the capital of the republic banned the Russian Union of Latvia party from holding a rally against the demolition of the monument in Victory Park, which had previously been applied for. The Riga City Council began preparations for dismantling and erected a fence around the monument. The Minister of the Interior of Latvia, Kristaps Eklons, said that the ministry under his control and other law enforcement agencies of the country are preparing for possible protests against the demolition of the monument.
"About 50 people gathered on the territory. Most of the visitors just stand there without engaging in discussions. Some are shouting… the slogan "fascism will not pass"… Some… had red flowers in their hands. Several young people with Latvian flags also appeared on the scene. Opponents of the demolition of the monument are engaged in active and sometimes obscene discussions with these young people", according to the website of the publication.
The police arrived at the scene, including employees of the special operations battalion, those present were asked to disperse and dispersed, «at least six people» were detained. its parts of artistic value. The director of the museum, Solvita Viba, said that the institution did not evaluate the monument in terms of artistic value, because it does not have such authority, and the statement of the mayor of Riga created a misunderstanding. The Latvian Parliament had previously suspended the clause of the intergovernmental agreement with Russia on the protection of monuments to Soviet soldiers, which allows dismantling monument. The legislature allowed it to be demolished after representatives of the Riga City Council voted for this decision. Latvia, along with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia, became one of the first republics of the former USSR to almost completely eradicate the Soviet legacy in monumental art. Cases of vandalism against Soviet monuments became more frequent after the start of a special operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on the situation with the monuments to Soviet soldiers in Latvia and Lithuania, called what is happening «international disgust». flowers to the place where the T-34 tank stood