Heavy machinery was spotted behind a green privacy fence at the foot of the nearly 80-meter (260-foot) obelisk shortly before it was cut down. The pillar, which stood like a high-rise in the center of Riga, fell into a nearby lake, causing a huge noise in Victory Park. A Latvian media outlet broadcast the event live as spectators, some with Latvian flags draped over their shoulders, cheered and clapped. The obelisk, consisting of five cones with three Soviet stars on top, stood between two groups of statues: a group of three Red Army soldiers; and a woman representing the “Mother Country” with her hands up. The monument was built in 1985, while Latvia was still part of the Soviet Union. It has been the subject of controversy since Latvia regained its independence in 1991 and eventually became a member of NATO and the European Union. On Twitter, Latvia’s foreign minister said that by taking down the monument, Latvia was “closing another painful page in history and looking for a better future.” The country shares a 214 km (133 mi) border with Russia and has a large Russian population. On Russia’s annual Victory Day, which commemorates the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II, people gathered in front of the Riga monument to lay flowers. Latvia’s parliament approved the demolition of the Victory Park monument in May, and Riga’s city council followed suit. Work to remove the monument began this week with the removal of the statues. The area was then cordoned off and authorities issued a no-fly zone for drones. Police temporarily closed traffic near the park on Thursday, citing safety concerns. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February prompted authorities in several Eastern European countries to remove symbols from their communist era. The government of Poland, another country that was once part of the Soviet empire, said Thursday that a monument in neighboring Belarus containing the graves of Polish soldiers who died during World War II was being razed by Belarusian authorities. . Łukasz Jasina, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said on Twitter that the cemetery in the village of Surkonty, where the Polish resistance fought Soviet forces, was “being destroyed by the services of the Minsk regime”. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The development comes a day after Poland announced it was demolishing a monument to Soviet Red Army soldiers in Poland, one of dozens that have been labeled a disaster. Belarus has been a key ally of Moscow, while Poland, which sits on Ukraine’s western border, has supported Ukraine. Last week, Estonia removed a Soviet World War II monument near a town on the Russian border as part of a wider effort to dismantle Soviet-era symbols. The replica tank was sent to a war museum north of Tallinn. In 2007, the relocation of a World War II monument to a Red Army soldier in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, sparked days of unrest.
