Moscow wants Riga Victory Museum

RIGA - Moscow wants to establish a museum on the site of the VictoryMonument in Riga, said Jurijs Sedisevs, the head of the NGO Memorials.

"It is possible to renew the monument, establish a museum, but large works have to be done," he said, adding that delegations from Moscow had visited Riga, but the unclear status of the monument might hinder the works as it does not belong to the Riga City Council or any other institutions.

He said that on Dec. 15, reconstruction of the monument will be started and the memorial plaque will be renewed with the inscription -- For Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga.

He said that the amount needed for reconstruction is not known, but Moscow promised to allocate all the necessary resources.

"When the monument was being built, there was no special purpose for the use of premises inside it. We investigated the archives, but there was nothing about it," said Sedisevs, adding that these premises had not been repaired for 20 years.

The documents for the purpose are being coordinated by Riga City Council lawmaker Igors Pimenovs from the HarmonyCenter, while the reconstruction works will be headed by NGO Memorials under the lead of Sedisevs.

The Riga City Council monuments council does not object to the inscription as it has once been there, when the monument was called The Monument for Soviet Soldiers -- Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from German Fascist Occupants. The inscription was made of metal and disappeared in the early 1990s, possibly stolen by scrap metal collectors.