TALLINN - The events began on April 26, when the Defense Ministry began archeological work to identify the 13 Soviet soldiers thought to be buried at the Tonismagi site. A fence was erected around the area and the monument was covered with a house-sized tent.
This first step in the planned relocation of the memorial and the graves attracted crowds of protesters, nearly all Russian-speakers, whose numbers grew into the hundreds by evening. Estimates indicate their numbers peaked somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000. Police reinforcements had earlier been bussed into town for the occasion. They formed lines to try to maintain order during the protests, which were initially loud but orderly.
Around midnight, some members of the crowd tried to break through police lines, prompting police to attempt to clear the area. When dry fire extinguishers and sound grenades didn't prove effective in moving the crowd, water canons and teargas were reportedly used.
While police were engaged in a battle with stone-throwing crowds coming from Endla street, other crowds formed on nearby the Parnu road. In the absence of any police presence in the area, the worst of the looting and destruction of the riots began. Television crews showed crowds of young people, including a large portion of teenagers, milling through the area. Many were drinking. Crowds overturned cars, invaded shops, destroyed bus shelters and ransacked and burned a kiosk. Before crowds broke up at around 3 a.m., other streets were also effected, with shops in Old Town looted.
During the rampage Dmitri Ganin, 20, a Russian citizen and resident of the eastern Estonian town of Mustvee, was admitted to the hospital with stab wounds and subsequently died. Police say that they have launched an investigation into his death.
At a crisis committee meeting held in the early hours of the morning, the decision was made to remove the statue as a matter of "national security."
The cycle of protests turning into rioting and looting was repeated on the night of April 27, though this time nearly all the participants were school-aged children. That night's destruction was worst in the vicinity of the Estonian Drama Theater and Viru street, but spread elsewhere as well. By most accounts, police were more aggressive in dispersing crowds and detaining people.
The same evening about 200 young people in the eastern Estonian town of Johvi also rioted, smashing windows and overturning traffic signs.
The next night was calm in Tallinn, though 50 young people, most minors, were detained in Narva for acting aggressively, police said. Police in Tallinn searched people on the street, confiscating weapons and stones.
BNS reported that about 800 people were detained over the three days of unrest.
