Remains of 95 more Soviet soldiers found in western Latvia

RIGA - The remains of 95 more Soviet soldiers have been unearthed in Pampali, a county in the western Latvian region of Saldus, the non-governmental organization called The Search Unit "Legend" informed LETA.

A number of mass graves, each containing the remains of 20 to 30 soldiers, have been discovered in Pampali. The NGO’s representatives indicated that of the approximately 400 Soviet soldiers found so far buried at the Pampali site, seven have been identified.

Representatives of the NGO also noted that the items found in the mass graves included war medals and orders, as well as a soldier’s identification capsule, an unusual find in Latvian territory. The paper in the capsule had become wet and is now being dried, which is expected to take more than a month. After that, it will become possible to read the content of the capsule.

The NGO also informed that World War II battles raged at the excavation site from January 1945 until the end of the war in May of the same year, while the soldiers were buried there during the months following the war.

The remains of the Soviet soldiers will be reburied in about a year. In the meantime, the NGO will be actively cooperating with the Russian archives, looking for the information about the soldiers. Most probably the soldiers will be reburied in the Red Army Fraternal Cemetery in Pamapali which is where the remains of the Soviet soldiers found in 2002 were reburied.

Our work is in compliance with the Latvian-Russian agreement concerning the war graves in both countries, a representative of the NGO said.

As reported, in April 2018, the Search Unit "Legend" discovered the remains of 145 Soviet soldiers in Pampali.

The organization's representatives dug out the remains of 145 Soviet soldiers. They also found five orders and medals, which will help to identify at least five of the bodies.

The organization said it was not the first such discovery in the given location. Fifteen years ago remains of 140 soldiers were found in the same area but on the other side of the road.

The purpose of the Search Unit "Legend" is to look for the World War II graves, to recover and to identify the bodies for subsequent reburial and to find, to restore and to put on display old military equipment.