Paint it red- Russian Day of Victory

May 09, 2008
Monika Hanley in cooperation with BNS

Victory Square in Riga Photo: Laura Dean

Today throughout the Baltics and Russia, the Day of Victory for the Russian army in World War II against the Nazis brought out supporters in the tens of thousands. However, not all events were greeted with peace and celebration.

In Tallinn earlier this morning, sculptures of Soviet soldiers were spray painted red.

In Vilnius, a suspicious package containing a fake explosive was set by the GreenBridge by the Soviet-era statues of soldiers.  Vandals also spray painted the statues red. Traffic was interrupted and a bomb squad was called to the scene.

Despite the recent increase in talks between the Baltic states and Russia, a surveyed 6 percent of Russian inhabitants consider the Baltic states to be hostile, while 45-55 percent were unable to name countries either friendly or hostile to Russia.

Early today, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Estonia of glorifying Nazism and politicizing the trial of the April riot organizers in a statement issued on Thursday.

'It is obvious that the attempts of the Estonian authorities to white wash the Nazis and their henchmen are continuing with blatant disrespect for those who saved the world from fascism,' a representative of the ministry told Russian news agency Interfax.
The ministry official also said that the trial of the persons who stand charged with organizing the April disturbances last year is taking place in a charged atmosphere while the probe into the death of Russian citizen Dmitri Ganin killed during the riots has yet to see any progress.

'The prosecutor's office ignores the attempts of the lawyer of Dmitri Ganin's mother to draw attention to new evidence that might shed light on the killing,' the ministry representative said.

He also accused the Estonian authorities of withholding information about the remains of Red Army soldiers unearthed at Harjumagi inTallinnduring archaeological excavations in preparation for the erecting of the FreedomMonument even though the Estonian Foreign Ministry on Thursday explained to the Russian embassy the excavation procedure.

In Riga however, the day of victory is going smoothly with well over 2000 making the pilgrimage over the bridge to the large Victory Square where live bands and ethnic dancers performed. Alfreds Rubiks, Latvian Socialist party leader gave a speech while youngsters handed out red flags with the Russian party logo emblazoned on them.

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