Bronze soldier

“The memorial of Voin the liberator of Tallinn from German fascist invaders” was opened on September 22, 1947 on the Tõnismägi hill ( est. Tõnismägi - St. Anthony's Hill) in the center of Tallinn opposite the Kaarli church . Since 1995, the official name - Monument to the Povshim in the Second World War .

The monument was erected next to the mass grave , in which on April 14, 1945, 13 Soviet soldiers who were killed near Tallinn during the Tallinn operation of 1944 during World War II and previously buried in other parts of the city were re-buried ^[1] . The original location of the monument is in the city center, opposite the Kaarli church is not accidental: earlier the church was surrounded by a cemetery ^[2] .

The memorial composition , created by sculptor Enn Roos and architect Arnold Alas , consisted of a two-meter-high figure of a Soviet soldier with his head bowed in mourning, and a wall with plaques with the names of the dead and the Order of the Patriotic War . In 1964, the Eternal Flame was lit in front of the monument. There is a version according to which the Estonian Red Army soldier Vello Rayangu ^[3] (real name Voldemar Troll, an ethnic Swede , was born in the city of Verro ( Võru ) in 1916) served as a prototype soldier.

Since the 1990s, the fate of the memorial and burial has been the subject of fierce debate, since some Estonians considered it a symbol of the Soviet occupation ^[4] . In the early 1990s, after Estonia declared independence, the Eternal Flame was extinguished. The plates with the names of the victims were replaced in 1994 with signs saying "Fallen in World War II" in Estonian and Russian. In addition, the site in front of the monument was redone - in particular, the Eternal Flame was removed from there.

In mid-April 2007, the Estonian government made the final decision ^[5] to transfer the memorial from the city center. The dismantling of the monument and the demolition of the memorial wall on the night of April 26-27, 2007 led to mass unrest in Tallinn and other Estonian cities.

On April 30, 2007, the figure of the “Bronze Soldier” was installed at the Military Cemetery on Filtri Street , about three hundred meters from the Järvevan highway bordering Tallinn from the southeast side, two kilometers from the original location ^[6] , and on May 1, 2007 Tõnismägi were completed excavations and exhumation of the remains of the buried. According to the Estonian Ministry of Defense, 12 graves were found ^{[7] [8]} . The rest of the memorial was in a reduced form partially recreated by the end of June 2007 ^{[9] [10]} . The reburial of eight soldiers took place on July 3 .

1. Mikhail Petrovich Kulikov , born in 1909 , lieutenant colonel , commander of the 657 rifle regiment of the 125th rifle division , born in the Tambov region , the city of Morshansk , died September 22, 1944 . On September 29, 2007, the remains were reburied in Yaroslavl ^[11] .
2. Ivan Mikhailovich Sysoev , born in 1909 , captain , party organizer 657 sp 125 sd, born in the Arkhangelsk Region , Vinogradovsky District, Topsa Village, died on September 22, 1944 . When the remains were exhumed, the ashes were not found.
3. Konstantin Pavlovich Kolesnikov , born in 1897 , colonel , deputy commander of the 125th division, a native of the Stalingrad region , the Residential Spit farm, died on September 21, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
4. Ivan Stepanovich Serkov , born in 1922 , captain, chief of intelligence of the 79th light-artillery brigade, born in the Ryazan Region , Putyatinsky District, called up by the Ryazan RVK, died on September 21, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
5. Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov , born in 1908, Major Major , commander of the 1222 self-propelled artillery regiment, born in the Ivanovo Region , Kolchuginsky District, village of Novo-Frolovskoe, died on September 22, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
6. Vasily Egorovich Volkov , born in 1923 , lieutenant , mortar platoon commander, 657 sp, 125 subdivision, a native of the Kalinin Oblast , Kalininsky District, B. Makarov, killed by the Kalinin RVK, died September 22, 1944 . The ashes of a soldier on June 26, 2007 were reburied in the city ​​of Kashin ( Russia ) ^[12] .
7. Alexey Matveyevich Bryantsev ( December 29, 1917 - September 22, 1944 ), captain, party organizer of the 1222 self-propelled artillery regiment, born in the Altai Territory , Borki, Pospelikhinsky district, was killed by the St. George RVC, died September 22, 1944 . Commander of the Order of the Red Banner and Order of the Patriotic War II degree. June 16, 2007 , reburied in Gukovo , Rostov region where his son Victor lives.
8. Stepan Illarionovich Khapikalo , born in 1920, a senior sergeant of the guard, the gun commander of the 26th separate heavy guards tank regiment, a native of Poltava region , Novo-Senzhar district, p. Novo-Poltava, called up by the Lozno-Aleksandrovsky RVK (as in the document) of the Voroshilovgrad region , died of an illness on September 28, 1944 in TPPG-2623. October 28, 2007, his ashes were reburied in the city ​​of Poltava ( Ukraine ) ^[13] .
9. Elena Mikhailovna (Lenin Moiseevna) Varshavskaya , born in 1925 , guard foreman honey. Service, paramedic of the 40th division of the Guard Mortar Regiment, a native of Poltava region , Dykansky district, p. Mikhaylovka, called up by the Dzerzhinsk RVK of Moscow , died on September 23, 1944 . Commander of the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. Reburied on July 4, 2007 on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem , where a monument was erected on January 15, 2008 ^[14] .
10. Vasily Ivanovich Davydov , sergeant, commander of the guns of the 30th Guards mortar regiment, a native of the Kalinin region, Rzhevsky district, p. Adore, called up by the Fokino RVK, Molotov region, died on September 22, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
11. K. Kotelnikov , lieutenant colonel, died on September 22, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
12. I. M. Lukanov , Junior Lieutenant, died on September 22, 1944 . Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .
13. Dmitry Andreevich Belov , scout of the 23rd artillery division, corporal. Dust reburied at the Military Cemetery on July 3, 2007 .

By order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, in 2006 a historical background of the monument and burial was prepared ^[1] .

According to the publication “Estonian People in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941–1945 ”, “ On September 25, 1944, the deputy division commander, Colonel K. P. Kolesnikov, and the commander of the 657th rifle regiment, Colonel M. P, were buried with great honors Kulikov and other dead. "

April 14, 1945 on Tõnismägi was organized the ceremonial reburial of the remains of the fallen Soviet soldiers. On this day, the newspaper Rahva Hääl reported: “The funeral procession moves slowly through the streets of Tallinn. Wreaths, mourning flags, twelve red coffins in cars, and behind them mourning city residents. Fighters of the Red Army who died on September 22, 1944 during the liberation of the capital of Soviet Estonia will be buried in a mass grave. ”

On April 17, 1945, the newspaper Noorte Hjael wrote: “On Saturday, the 14th, a burial took place in the common grave of twelve heroic fighters of the Red Army who died on the day of the liberation of Tallinn from the Hitlerite enslavers.”

On April 15, a message was posted in the newspaper Sovetskaya Estonia : “Yesterday, the workers of the Estonian capital accompanied the officers and soldiers of the Red Army who had fallen for the liberation of the fraternal Estonian people, for the liberation of Tallinn. There are twelve of them. Let us remember the names of the heroes: Major V.I. Kuznetsov’s guards, captain A.M. Bryantsev, captain Serkov, lieutenant V.E. Volkov, junior lieutenant I.M. Lukanov, guard sergeant V.I. Davydov, guard foreman H. Pikalo , Guard foreman Elena Varshavskaya, Red Army soldier D. A. Belov and three more unknown soldiers. They were buried in different places, and yesterday their remains were transferred to a mass grave on Tõnismägi’s wide boulevard ” ^[15] .

On the night of May 8, 1946, a temporary wooden monument erected at the Tõnismägi grave was blown up by Tallinn schoolgirls Ageeda Paavell and Aili Jurgenson , who laid an improvised explosive device here. They motivated their act by revenge for the fact that the Soviet authorities massively destroyed monuments to those who died in the Liberation War ^[16] . The girls were arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison ^[17] . Later, similar attacks on Soviet monuments were carried out in other cities of the republic ^[18] . In 1998, Ageeda Paavel and Aili Jurgenson were awarded the Order of the Eagle Cross ( est. Kotkaristi Teenetemärk ) by President Lennart Meri for their fight against communism .

After the proclamation of independence by Estonia, war veterans who fought in the Red Army and many other people continued to gather at the monument on May 9 on Victory Day and on September 22 on the day of the liberation of Tallinn from German troops.

Political struggle

On May 4, 2006, at a meeting of the Tallinn City Assembly, the faction of the nationalist Union of the Fatherland demanded that the memorial and burial be removed from the city center, citing its demand that the monument “ heroizes the occupation of the country by the Soviet Union in 1944 and does not fit with the existence of an independent Republic of Estonia ” ^[19] .

On May 9, 2006, a monument occurred at the monument, during which the celebrants ousted Jüri Böhm ( Estonian Jüri Böhm ), a Estonian nationalist , member of the Fatherland Union, who ную soldier occupied our state and deported our people! " ^{[20] [21]} . According to the picketing and some Estonian media, they tried to wrest a flag and a banner from his hands. Opinions of the public were divided: some saw this as an outrage against the symbols of Estonian statehood, others were a rebuff to nationalist provocateurs.

On May 10, 2006, four prominent nationalist figures declared

One of them, twice awarded the highest award of the Estonian Republic, Jüri Liim , publicly promised to blow up the monument ^{[23] [24]} .

On May 20, 2006, a meeting of Estonian nationalists was held in front of the monument with the requirements of its demolition, the protesters tried to throw a rope around the monument ^[25] , that very night it was desecrated ^[26] . In response to this, in order to protect the monument from abuse, a group of people began to gather at the monument at night, calling themselves the " Night Watch ".

On 22 May 2006, Minister of the Interior Kalle Laanet stated that the Estonian police would not protect the monument from vandals ^[27] . On the same day, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip made a statement that “the Bronze Soldier standing on Tõnisamgi is a symbol of occupation, and it should have been demolished long ago ” ^[28] On the night of May 23, the monument was desecrated again ^[29] .

On May 23, Estonian nationalists announced a picnic on Tõnismägi on Saturday, May 27 ^[30] .

On May 25, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip made a statement that “the Bronze Soldier on Tõnismägi became a symbol opposing the Republic of Estonia ” ^[31] . On the same night, the police began 24-hour duty on Tõnismägi ^[32] . On May 26, 2006, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior reported on the prohibition to hold any meetings at the monument ^[33] .

On May 27, 2006, in the area of ​​Tõnismägi, several dozen Estonian nationalists, who came to a picnic, met with a demonstration of more than a thousand Russian residents of Tallinn. The Russians attacked Estonians twice and pulled Estonian flags from them until the police separated the conflicting parties. The Russians laid flowers at the monument, which remained under police protection ^{[34] [35]} .

At the end of May 2006, the police protected Tõnismägi Square with tape and prohibited any expressions of will in its surroundings ^[36] . The ban and fence remained until October 9, 2006.

According to many political commentators, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Andrus Ansip, during the election campaign promised to move the monument to the Liberator Soldier to win the votes of nationalist Estonian voters who traditionally voted for nationalist parties not represented in Parliament, and thereby gain the missing form government interest ^{[37] [38] [39] [40]}

This issue took up the Estonian Parliament . On October 11, 2006, the Reform Party , the Union of the Fatherland and Res Publica , as well as the Social Democrats, initiated a bill to protect war graves. On January 10, 2007, the parliament passed the “Law on the Protection of Military Graves” (66 out of 101 deputies voted for ^[41] ). The law gives grounds for the reburial of the remains of military personnel who rest in places not appropriate for this purpose - for example, in a park, in the green zone, in buildings outside cemeteries, as well as in places where military burials cannot be provided with proper care. Section 10 of the law provides for the transfer of grave monuments, slabs and crosses at the burial site. On January 11, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signed a decree on the adoption of the law.

On February 13, 2007, the Estonian Parliament supported in second reading an amendment to the draft law “On the removal of prohibited buildings” ^[42] , according to which the Monument to the fallen in World War II is considered a prohibited building and the government is obliged to organize its movement within 30 days after the law enters into force. In accordance with this amendment, “prohibited constructions are constructions that glorify the occupation of the Republic of Estonia, conducting mass repressions in Estonia, which can damage the life, health or property of people, cause enmity or cause disturbances in public order” ^[42] . A proposal was also made to prohibit the establishment and display in public places of memorials, monumental works of art or other buildings, glorifying historical persons who massively destroyed the Estonian people or large-scale plundered historical places of Estonia. On February 15 , despite criticism from lawyers, the bill was passed by 46 votes in favor and 44 against ^[42] . On February 22, the law was rejected by President Ilves, “since this law contradicts the Estonian constitution on several points, primarily on the question of the separation of the branches of power” ^[43] .

^[44] , - wrote President Ilves in his resolution.

The next incident near the monument took place on February 23, 2007, when a group of Estonian nationalists tried to lay a wreath of barbed wire with the inscription “ Killers, rapists and torturers of the Estonian people ” at the foot of the monument. In the course of laying a fight took place between the nationalists and the defenders of the monument, who did not allow laying a wreath ^[45] . Based on a statement by one of the nationalists against the defenders, an investigation was launched. On March 25, the nationalist Jüri Böhm arrived at Tõnismägi with another wreath of barbed wire. The defenders of the monument tried to not miss it to the monument, a scuffle arose. A special security unit of the Estonian police was called into place, which, having formed a living corridor of policemen with dogs, allowed the nationalists to lay a wreath ^[46] . Tear gas was used to disperse the protesters by police, and several defenders of the monument were charged.

During the election campaign, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip stated that in order to prevent further conflicts, he considers it necessary to move the monument and burial places from the city center to the cemetery. The Center Party , the most popular party among the non-Estonian population, was critical of the idea of ​​transferring the monument. In the March elections of the Riigikogu, the Reform Party of Andrus Ansip won and in early April he formed and headed the new government.

In mid-April, Minister of Defense Aaviksoo proposed a plan according to which the government should adopt in the evening of April 19 a secret decision to remove the monument. According to this plan, the monument was to be removed on the night of Friday, April 27, and was already installed on a cemetery on Sunday ^{[40] [47]} . According to the deputy of the riigikogu Heimar Lenk, the Aaviksoo plan was adopted ^[47] . This information has not been refuted by the authorities.

On April 18, the Minister of Defense Jaak Aaviksoo issued a special order “On the organization of excavations and identification of the remains of victims of war”, prepared on the basis of the law “On the Protection of Military Graves”.

According to the law on the protection of military graves, it is the Minister of Defense who decides on military monuments. The Tallinn City Hall, where power belongs to the opposition Center Party , twice applied for a ban on excavations at Tõnismägi, but the Tallinn Administrative Court each time rejected the petition. The municipality indicated that the excavations are provocative in nature and can have negative consequences for the city and the state as a whole and even lead to an international conflict.

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip made a statement that the transfer of the monument will be carried out strictly in accordance with international standards - the embassy of Russia will be informed about the start of work, and “if it comes to reburial, it will be done with dignity and following all internationally recognized rules” ^{[48 ]} .

In the meantime, the Russian delegation to PACE initiated a draft resolution condemning the Estonian authorities for their intention to demolish the monument.

On April 23, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation presented a note of protest to the Estonian ambassador in Moscow, Marina Kaljurand , in which he once again expressed Moscow’s resolute disagreement with the Estonian government’s intention to start excavating and transferring the burial of the remains of Soviet soldiers. As stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia regards these actions as “a revision of the role of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in the victory over fascism in World War II, contrary not only to the norms of international law, but also to elementary principles of human morality and humanism”.

On April 25, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, speaking on Radio 4, said that the excavations would begin “in the coming days” and take at least two weeks. Meanwhile, the Estonian Border Guard Department announced on April 24 that the border control was tightened, and on the night of April 25, Estonian border guards did not let members of the Latvian Anti-Fascist Committee and journalists from Latvia to meet with the Night Watch activists into the country. They were told that they are on the list of persons whose presence in the territory of Estonia is undesirable. Since April 23, many employees of the territorial bodies of the Estonian Police have been assigned to protect public order in Tallinn. Meanwhile, as Postimees newspaper reported, Nashi activists who were stationed at the Meriton Grand Hotell Tallinn hotel ^[49] have already arrived in Tallinn, and one of the leaders of the Night Watch movement, Dmitry Linter , said that the Estonian authorities “expect surprises " ^[50] .

In fact, immediately after the return of Toomas Hendrik Ilves from Moscow (the plane with the president landed in Tallinn at 1:30 on April 26), with the burial of Boris Yeltsin, a police operation began.

April 26th

On April 26, at 4:30 am, preparation for the excavations at the burial site began. Several dozen police officers from the anti-riot squad surrounded the monument with a dense ring. Three activists of the organization “ Night Watch ”, two men and one woman, were detained. A car owned by a woman had punctured tires and broken windows ^{[51] [52]} . According to police, the detainees refused to leave the territory of the memorial and locked themselves in their car, as a result of which police officers entered the car with the use of force, as a result of which the woman was slightly wounded by the hand. According to the representative of the Night Watch, they beat the monument on duty right in the car, preventing her from leaving or leaving the territory adjacent to the memorial, the woman was smashed her head and glasses, injured her arm ^[51] .

By five in the morning metal fences were installed around the perimeter, candles at the foot of the monument were removed, a huge white tent covered all the space in front of the Bronze Soldier, including the monument itself. On the fence hung signs with inscriptions in Estonian, Russian and English: “Here are carried out archaeological excavations of military graves and identification work. We ask to keep calm and dignity in the work area. ”

At 5:51, adviser to the press service of the Estonian government, Martin Jasko, sent out a document in which officials were encouraged to use the term Bronze Soldier instead of the concept of a monument to use the concept of gravestone instead of the word “removal” - “reburial”, instead of “Estonians "And" Russian "-" interest groups " ^[40] .

In the morning, people began to gather in the square and lay flowers on the metal fence. The police ordered them to be removed, but after a brief meeting they were allowed to leave the flowers.

During the day, a crowd of up to 2,000 people gathered in the square, who chanted "Shame!" And "Fascists!" At 19:40, a group of about 10 protesters tried to force through a chain of police and special forces, but were thrown back for a few seconds using tear gas and telescopic batons . A helicopter circled around the square, illuminating it with a searchlight, a powerful searchlight was also switched on the ground and aimed at the crowd. In response, plastic bottles and eggs flew towards the police ^{[40] [51] [53]} . At 21:00, a police representative announced through the loudspeaker in Russian the order to disperse, specifying that otherwise physical force and special means would be used. After a repeated appeal to disperse, the police forced the demonstrators out of the square using gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades, while stones flew from the crowd to the police. Having ousted the crowd from Tõnismägi Square towards Pärnu Highway to the Cosmos cinema, the police remained on Tõnismägi Hill. The crowd moved the road barriers, blocking the street, and began to crush the bus stops, beat shop windows, turn over cars ^[54] . The glass in the residence of the Reform Party (responsible for the transfer of the monument) was broken, several kiosks were set on fire, the Hugo Boss store, a pharmacy, a casino, a cosmetics and jewelery store, an optics store, alcohol and computer stores were looted.

April 27

On the night of April 27, the crisis commission, whose head was Minister of the Interior Jüri Pihl , recommended immediately moving the monument from Kaarli Boulevard to the cemetery of the defense forces ^{[53] [55]} . At 3:40 Andrus Ansip contacted the rest of the government by telephone and received their consent ^{[40] [53] [55]} . The limestone wall behind the soldier was destroyed, the soldier was dismantled, taken under police protection and taken to an unknown place ^[56] . Early in the morning, the government made a statement in which it refuted rumors about cutting the statue into pieces ^[57] .

On the first night of the clashes, 57 people were injured, among them 13 policemen. One person died in hospital from stab wounds sustained during the riots. About 300 people were taken to the police, of whom a third were ethnic Estonians.

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  Mass riots in the center of Tallinn on the night of April 27, 2007

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  Burned booth, the night from 26 to 27 April 2007

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  Tõnismägi, noon on April 27, 2007.

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  Endla Street at Noon April 27, 2007

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  Pharmacy affected by the riots

On the evening of April 27, people began to gather again in the city center. On Kaarli Boulevard, the number of protesters reached 400 people. About 100 people were detained by the police. By 22 o'clock the number of protesters reached 2,000, unrest resumed. Police have used water cannons, tear gas. In response, bottles and stones flew. The windows of several stopping pavilions and cars parked near the roadway were broken, the windows of adjacent buildings were broken, including the Estonia Theater and Tallinn City Hall. A monument to Anton Tammsaare was also desecrated: unknown persons brought out the words “Ansip-SchMO” in white paint ^[58] . About 600 people were detained, the number of victims reached 153.

A spontaneous rally also took place in Jõhvi , in the Ida-Virumaa district. The participants demanded the immediate release of all the defenders of the monument arrested in Tallinn and the resignation of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, one of the initiators of the demolition of the monument. Some young people from among the protesters behaved aggressively. As a result, a pogrom began: the windows of the Central shopping complex, the Privat beer hall and another shop were broken. An attempt was made to destroy the monument to Estonian General Tõnisson , who was stopped. Police detained 46 people.

April 28

On the night of April 28, the common grave of Soviet soldiers was desecrated in the city of Valga ^[59] . On the same night, the SS memorial in Sinimäe and the German cemetery in Kohtla-Järve were desecrated ^[60] .

On April 28, the leaders of the Night Watch , Dmitry Linter and Maxim Reva, and the Nashi Commissioner in Estonia, 18-year-old Mark Siryk, were arrested. All three were charged with organizing riots ^[61] . In 2009, they were acquitted by the county court, and then by the district court ^[62] ; they were paid compensation for unjustified detention in the amount of about $ 28,000 ^[63] .

On the same day, a spontaneous protest demonstration was held in Narva , the participants of which took to Petrovskaya Square and entered into an altercation with the police, during which the police shot in the air. During the further demonstration, the police used force, about 70 people were detained. The Keithselite militia ^{[64] was} also brought in to ensure order.

April 29

On April 29, a spontaneous protest rally took place in Sillamäe , during which protesters blocked the Tallinn-Narva highway ^[65] .

Results of the protest against the demolition of the monument

A total of 99 outlets suffered from the hands of the rioters. The government promised to pay damages to "cities recognized as belonging to the riot zone." As of June 28, 2007, compensations were paid in the amount of 9 million kroons (577 thousand euros) ^[66] .

According to the police, a third of the detainees were Estonians ^{[67] [68]} . On suspicion of hooliganism and vandalism, a total of about 1,200 people were taken into custody, of whom 700 were found not to be involved in the riots ^{[69] [70]} .

The Estonian Embassy in Moscow was blocked by the Russian youth movement Nashi. The youth prevented people from entering and leaving the embassy building, demanding that Estonia return the Bronze Soldier to Tõnismägi. The embassy sent notes of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which noted that the life and health of the embassy staff and their family members are endangered ^[71] . Notes remained unanswered.

On May 2 , trying to wreck the press conference of the Estonian Ambassador to the editorial offices of the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty , several young people from the Nashi movement broke into the building of the newspaper’s press center. Ambassador’s guard sprayed pepper gas ^[72] . According to the Estonian Ambassador, the police were inactive when a scuffle broke out between her guards and representatives of the Nashi movement ^[73] . The embassy stated that it would stop consular work until the situation was normalized.

The murder of Dmitry Ganin

At 23:16:30 on April 26, the first rescue message arrived in the Tallinn Rescue Center about a fight in the Woodstock bar area, followed by signals of a fire in the same bar. According to the unknown, at 23:56:46 the police arrived at the bar, extinguished the fire and left the scene. Two minutes later, at 11:58:43, the first message was received about several wounded lying near the unconscious bar ^[74] .

The beaten and wounded citizen of Russia, Dmitry Ganin, was lying on the sidewalk in front of the bar for about an hour and a half before the arrival of the ambulance car ^[75] . About two o'clock in the morning he died in hospital from a knife wound to the chest.

On 2 May, the Estonian Ambassador to Russia, Marina Kaljurand, said at a press conference in Moscow that, according to the materials of the investigation, stolen goods were found in the pockets of the victim and that he was killed in a fight with another marauder ^[76] . The Estonian police were accused of not providing timely medical assistance to Ganin ^[77] .

In mid-May, two Estonians were arrested on suspicion of beating Ganin and his friend Oleg. According to the press, Dmitry and Oleg became victims of the attack and were injured on the night of April 27 in the area of ​​the Woodstock bar ^[78] . On June 12, seven more suspects were detained, all Estonians. Evidence was found at the place of residence of the suspects ^[79] . In July, all those suspected of beating and killing Ganin were released on a written undertaking not to leave ^{[79] [80]} .

On May 8, 2008, the Estonian ambassador to Russia said that Estonia, no less than Russia, was interested in identifying and punishing the killers of Ganin ^[81] .

In June 2009, the criminal case on the fact of the beating of Ganin was discontinued, three of the participants in the beatings received fines ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 kroons . The criminal case on the fact of the murder continues ^[82] .

Actions of the Estonian Police

In fact, all policemen lacked personal name plates, which made it impossible to file complaints and apply to the courts for officers of the police department who had exceeded their authority.

KaPo (kaitsepolitsei - security police) created a website that asked everyone to help identify people who happened to be near Tõnismägi on April 26-27, as well as at protest rallies in other Estonian cities.

Police detained and beat bystanders, journalists, witnesses with clubs ^{[83] [84]} . German citizens, whom the Estonian police detained on the street and placed in the D-terminal of the port of Tallinn , were interviewed by the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti . Klaus Dornemann, 65, and his 37-year-old son, Lucas, were beaten with ribs and arms with batons ^[85] . According to them, at least half of the detainees had no relation to vandalism on the streets of Tallinn.

According to one of the leaders of the Night Watch, Alexander Korobov, the detainees were taken to the warehouse of the D-terminal of the Tallinn port, where they were kept tied up and forced to sit on the concrete floor. In the administration of natural needs, the detainees were denied. Those who tried to get up were severely beaten. Korobov also said that at least one of the detainees was possibly beaten to death ^{[86] [87]} .

By May 23, the Chancellor of Justice Allar Yyksu received 37 complaints against the police during the riots. 12 of them were sent to the prosecutor's office ^[88] . On June 13, Nashi Commissioner Mark Siryk was released from custody. The detainees Dmitry Linter and Maxim Reva were transferred to different prisons, banned transfer. Dmitry Linter in protest declared a hunger strike. The “ Night Watch ” activist Svetlana Kungurova: Estonian lawyers, whom we invite to defend, refuse one by one - and openly explain that they don’t want to go against the authorities in a highly politicized process. Telephones are monitored, mail is monitored, contacts and movements are monitored by Kapo employees ^[89] . As a result, the case on charges of Linter, Siryk, Klensky and Reva in organizing the riots was transferred to the Harju Court, where all the accused were acquitted; The Tallinn Court of Appeal confirmed the acquittal verdict, and the Estonian State Court did not consider the appeal against the sentence ^[90] .

The UN Committee Against Torture in November 2007 expressed “concern about allegations of cruelty and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials, especially in connection with the riots that occurred in Tallinn in April 2007, which are well documented through a careful compilation of complaints” ^[91] . In 2013, the same committee expressed concern that complaints of cruelty and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers sent to the Chancellor of Justice and the Prosecutor’s Office did not lead to prosecution. ^[92] The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in 2011 published its report on the results of a visit to Estonia in May 2007, in which it noted that many detainees were not provided with the right to immediately contact their relatives, to get access to a doctor and a lawyer ^[93] .

On 28 March 2013, the European Court of Human Rights adopted a ruling which found Estonia to violate Article 3 of the ECHR (prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment) in relation to four people ^[94] .

Information Warfare

According to the activists of the Night Watch , they were actively pursued by the Estonian Security Police . A search was conducted in the house of the Night Watch leader Dmitry Linter ^[95] . Several forums were temporarily closed, a site with an appeal against the mahapronkss6dur monument, commenting on articles in the Russian-speaking sector of the popular Estonian news portal Delfi was forbidden.

The uncertainty of the situation that arose after the demolition of the memorial contributed to the spread of rumors and erroneous information. Participants in the events said that the monument was destroyed. Russian media quoted an anonymous representative of the Estonian government, who allegedly reported that the monument had been sawn and taken away in an unknown direction ^[96]

The leader of the anti-fascist movement, Andrei Zarenkov, stated that the Russian-speaking Estonian policemen are massively dismissed from work, not wanting to take part in suppressing discontent from the “non-indigenous” population ^[97] . The Estonian Police Director General Raivo Aeg issued in response a statement denying such reports, ^[98] and Foreign Minister Urmas Paet ^[99] also joined the denial.

According to the speaker of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov , a Russian citizen was killed, who was "severely beaten by police, chained to the post and died from blood loss." According to him, there is a video that testifies to this ^[100] .

Many websites of Estonian public institutions have been hit by hacker attacks, according to Estonian Justice Minister Rein Lang , from the IP addresses of Russian state institutions ^[101] . According to Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet , traces of cyber attacks also lead to the presidential administration of Russia ^[102] . Estonia’s request to conduct a joint cyber attack on Estonian websites was ignored by the Russian side. However, according to a study conducted by the American company in the field of computer security Arbo Netvoks, none of the sources she analyzed around the world indicates that Russia has organized a cyber attack. According to researchers, Estonia was attacked by hackers from many countries, including the United States ^{[103] [104]} .

According to the Estonian ambassador to the Russian Federation before the demolition of the monument ^[105] , there are “speculations” that the Estonian wrestler, two-time Olympic champion Kristjan Palusalu , in the same interview given by Radio Liberty, could serve as a prototype for the soldier, “ we have no data on whether there is a burial there or not. ”

The Bronze Soldier demolished from Tõnismägi was installed on April 30, 2007 at the Tallinn military cemetery. Before the figure of a soldier, a memorial to the memory of Soviet soldiers was installed, in which it is written in Estonian and Russian: To the Unknown Soldier. 1941 - 1945 . On the back of the plate there is an inscription: From grateful Russians. The monument was restored in 1995 , as well as the image of the Orthodox cross ^[106] .

On May 8, 2007, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip , Minister of Population Affairs Urve Palo and Minister of Defense Jaak Aaviksoo took part in a memorial ceremony at the Military Cemetery. About twenty foreign ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Estonia also took part in the ceremony. A wreath was laid at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier ^[107] .

Deputies from the delegation of the State Duma of Russia , who were on a visit to Tallinn, found traces of "cross-cutting" on the monument ^[108] . The Estonian Ministry of Defense denied these claims. According to the press secretary of the ministry, statues of this size are made in parts, since there is no such large oven in which to cast them. Thus, the lines that are visible on the statue are traces of old welding, which date back to the year of its creation. In the photographs of the monument before the transfer, the seam is also noticeable ^[106] .

June 20 was completed construction of a limestone wall. The new wall is similar to the old, but slightly smaller in size ^[109] . Also there are no images of the Order of the Patriotic War on the limestone wall and the memorial to the memory of Soviet soldiers to the Unknown Soldier. 1941-1945 . On July 3, eight soldiers were reburied. Eight names are written on the temporary blackboard over the graves: Colonel Kolesnikov K. P., Lieutenant Colonel I. Kotelnikov, Lieutenant Colonel M. P. Kulikov, Major I. I. Kuznetsov, Lieutenant I. M. I., Captain I. S. Serkov, Sergeant Davydov V.I. and Private Belov, D. A. ^[110] . Later, the temporary board will be replaced by another one, where the names will be written in two languages. Separately, a plate was also installed with the name of Sysoev I.M., since among those buried his body was not found, but was originally listed.

•   The defenders of the monument formed the public movement " Night Watch " and the Anti-Fascist Committee .
•    In Russian-speaking and Russian media, supporters of the demolition of the monument are called fascists, and their actions are the glorification of fascism. Estonian activists who sought to demolish the monument, emphasize that they do not intend to justify fascism or Nazism, but the monument to Soviet liberators can not be a place in Tallinn, because, from their point of view, in 1944 the Baltic was not released - the German occupation was only replaced Soviet. The same opinion was expressed by Estonian President T.H. Ilves in an interview with the BBC .
•   The International Center for Defense Studies publishes a report entitled “Russia's Involvement in the Riots in Tallinn” ^[111] .
•   European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the transfer of the monument is an internal matter of Estonia. "This is the sovereign decision of each state - what monuments to have on its territory" ^[112] .
•   On January 27, 2007, REGNUM news agency publishes a translation of a note by the former Estonian ambassador to Russia Mart Helme ^[113], which appeared on the Estonian Internet portal DELFI ^[113] :

  “The Bronze Soldier”, “The Bronze Soldier” ... Everything around is only talking about this idol. And worst of all, we Estonians are to blame for all this nonsense. In theory, here it is necessary to speak about Russia, that for more than 15 years it has been using deceitful, slanderous and extortionate policies against us. Today’s Russia is a growing monster that the world has never seen in its history. This monster will straighten its shoulders in 2008 after the presidential election, and then we will see what kind of monster crawls out of the gates of the Kremlin ... Two years will not pass, as in Russia we will deal with the most terrifying terrorist regime in the world, an exporter of terrorism, next with which all there Hamas and al-Qaeda will fade. What to do? Russia, which, in essence, is weak, needs to impose a new, unbearable economic competition, an arms race and an ideological war ... on the ruins of the empire will need to be helped to be born to the national states of small nations and other democratic entities with different geopolitical and geographic-economic orientation. The collapse of Russia will free the world from this monster, whom Ronald Reagan dubbed the evil empire.

•   January 30, 2007 Estonian officials speak about Martha Helme in an interview with Izvestia. Advisor to the Estonian President on public relations Toomas Sildam: “We do not consider it necessary to comment on the speech Helme. This is a statement by a private individual who does not represent either the executive or the legislative power. ” Approximately the same reaction was made in the Estonian embassy in Moscow: “Mart Helme has not worked at the Foreign Ministry for a long time. He acts as a private individual. So we do not consider it appropriate to comment on his words. ” ^[114]
•   February 19, 2007 President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves , BBC Russian Service ^[115] :

  ... Perhaps it is unpleasant to hear, but in our minds this soldier personifies deportations and murders, the destruction of the country, and not liberation ...

•   April 3, 2007 First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov , addressing a meeting of a veteran activist in Moscow ^{[116] [117]} :

  ... This will not go unnoticed for the Russian-Estonian relations ... There are quite a lot of fermented milk products made in Estonia on the Russian market, which means that we should not buy them. I don’t call for a boycott, just if Russian citizens don’t like the policy of the Estonian authorities, just don’t buy their products ... Or take tourism. Do not go to rest in Estonia - go, for example, to Kaliningrad ... We are not talking about any sanctions. This is an expression of civil position, which should be ...

Sergey Ivanov also called for speeding up the construction of a Russian port in Ust-Luga (Leningrad Region), since at present a significant part of the passenger-and-freight transit in this direction goes through Estonia.

•   April 12, 2007 Vladimir Zhirinovsky , program "Special Opinion" , the radio station " Echo of Moscow " ^[118] :

  ... After all, our monument in Tallinn because of this is demolished by Estonians, they do not demolish the monument to the soldier, they demolish the symbol of the Soviet Union, because they were dissatisfied when they were 50 years old, from the 40th to the 90th year were in the Soviet Union. / ... / Naturally, they were evicted, they were shot, they were dekulakized, they were tortured, so they do not want their Soviet symbol in the center of the city ...

•   On April 23, 2007, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip , speaking at the open door at the parliament, said that excavations near the monument will certainly be carried out, and then it will be determined whether there are any burial grounds there. Then he voiced rumors about the appearance of the burial itself in September 1944. Firstly, Ansip reported that he had been drunk, which allegedly occurred in Soviet units after the capture of Tallinn, as a result of which drunken soldiers fell under their tank and were buried on Tõnismägi. The second option - drunk was a tanker who crushed his own. The third - on Tõnismägi buried shot marauders are buried. Fourth - there are dead patients in those days in a nearby hospital ^[119] .
•   On April 26, 2007, MEP from the Latvian political association “ For Human Rights in United Latvia ” (FHRUL) Tatiana Zhdanok distributed a message among all MEPs and their assistants in which she expressed her outrage at the events in Estonia ^[120] .
•   On April 27, 2007, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, in response to the dismantling of the monument, proposed to President Putin to sever diplomatic relations with Estonia ^[121] , and the State Duma of the Russian Federation demanded that the government apply economic and political sanctions against Estonia ^[122] .
•   On April 27, 2007, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry criticized the Estonian authorities. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, Andrei Popov, said: “Any abuse of the memory of the victims of this war causes us deep feelings of indignation and regret ... It seems that today it is obvious to everyone that such dramatic events were the result of irresponsible actions of the authorities. We regret that the Estonian leadership did not have enough political wisdom not to fight the dead ” ^[123] .
•   On April 27, 2007, the Tajik Council of War Veterans condemned the removal of the monument, saying: “Estonian bureaucrats behave like fascists” ^[124] .
•   On April 27, 2007, the Mayor of Kharkov, Mikhail Dobkin, offered to consider the transfer of the Bronze Soldier and the reburial of the remains of Soviet soldiers in Kharkov in an open letter to the mayor of Tallinn, Edgar Savisaar ^[125] .
•   On April 28, 2007, the Katyn Committee expressed solidarity with the Estonian authorities in connection with the dismantling of the Bronze Soldier in the center of Tallinn: “Soviet monuments popularized and laid down the theoretical basis for the Soviet version of lies, representing the Soviet Army as a liberator of the peoples.” The statement stresses that “the time has come to remove Soviet monuments from the streets of Polish cities is a shame that millions (Polish zloty) are still leaving for the preservation and maintenance of two thousand Soviet monuments from the pocket of a Polish taxpayer” ^[126] .
•   On April 28, 2007, the chairman of the Belgian Senate Foreign Affairs Commission, François Roland du Vivier, said he was shocked at the demolition of the monument: “No matter how complicated the relations between Estonia and the former Soviet Union would be, the fact that Estonia occupied by the Reich was liberated by Russian troops should not be compromised. This is a historical fact that should be respected. Actions of the opposite nature do not make any positive contribution to relations between Estonia and Russia, and are a turning back to historical truth. ” ^[127]
•   April 29, 2007 Polish President Lech Kaczynski, in a telephone conversation with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, expressed solidarity with Estonia in connection with the dismantling of the Bronze Soldier in the center of Tallinn. “President Lech Kaczynski expressed solidarity with the President of Estonia regarding the situation in Estonia,” the press service of the Polish leader reported ^[126] .
•   April 29, 2007 the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Nina Karpachova (faction of the Party of Regions ), appealing to the Ombudsman of the Republic of Estonia, declared her indignation and called dismantling "outrage upon the ashes of the liberators" ^[128] . On April 30, 2007, supporters of the Communist Party of Ukraine held a protest action outside the Estonian Embassy building against the dismantling of the monument to the Soldier-Liberator of Tallinn from the Nazis ^[129] .
•   Lithuania On April 29, 2007, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus stated that “Estonia has fulfilled this process without violating the principles of international law and with due respect,” and the inadequate policies of the Russian authorities are to blame for the unrest ^[130] .
•   On April 30, 2007, the Minister of Culture of Poland, Kazimierz Uyazdowski, announced that the "symbols of the communist dictatorship" would disappear from the streets throughout the country. A special statement from the Ministry of Culture of Poland informs that a draft law is being prepared on places of national memory, which will enable local governments and administrations to “effectively remove monuments and symbols of foreign domination over Poland” ^[131] .
•   On May 1, 2007, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that his country, and, consequently, the entire European Union , was the target of an attack from Russia. According to him, we are talking about an attack on the European community, during which cyber attacks are being carried out, the pickets of the embassy are being held, and civil disobedience is being provoked in the EU member country ^[132] .
•    May 2, 2007 A spokesman for the Estonian Foreign Ministry said that the Estonian ambassador in Moscow, Marina Kaljurand, was attacked by representatives of the Nashi youth association, who let tear gas in Kaljurand’s face. They attacked the ambassador’s car in front of the embassy, ​​from which the flag of Estonia was torn off ^[132] .
•   May 2, 2007 The head of the press service of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Ehtel Halliste, and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet told the deputies of the Estonian parliament: “Families of employees with children were evacuated from Moscow to Tallinn, the rest of the embassy staff remained at their places” ^[133] .
•   May 2, 2007 “The transfer of a tombstone or a monument to the memory of the Second World War is an internal affair of Estonia,” said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ^[134] .
•   May 3, 2007 Anna Belousova (Deputy Chairman of the National Council (Parliament) of Slovakia): “The Estonian authorities today support Wehrmacht veterans” ^[135] .
•   May 3, 2007 "Not a single Russian politician did so much to unite the Russian community of Estonia, as the Estonian government did with its ill-considered actions during the events related to the dismantling of the Bronze Soldier," said Pavel Varunin, chairman of the Union of Old Believer Communities of Estonia ^[136] .
•   May 5, 2007 State Duma deputy, leader of the movement “Motherland. KRO ” Dmitry Rogozin :“ The ashes of the soldiers of a great country are a sacred concept for us. And when Estonian politicians shake the bones of Russian soldiers - this is a test for lice. You and I are being checked whether we feel ourselves a great country, heirs of the wealth of Great Russia. We are being tested if we can protect not only ourselves, but also the blood of Russian history. And this makes one of the smallest European countries, provoking Russia to the reaction. The Russian leadership did not withstand this test ” ^[137] .
•   May 9, 2007 The head of the Estonian Council of Elders of the Seto (Setu) ethnic group, the editor of the newspaper “Setomaa” Ilmar Vananurm ^[138] :

  After installing the monument "Bronze Soldier" in its new, "right place", it was the turn to move the Estonian-Russian border to its "right place".

•   On May 11, 2007, the Lviv City Council decided to support the statement of the Freedom All-Ukrainian Union (VO) faction on dismantling the symbols of “imperial-Bolshevik domination”. Ivan Grinda, the deputy of the city council, declared that his political force "will do everything possible, in compliance with the law, so that all Soviet symbols are dismantled in Lviv and localities of the region" ^[139] .
•   CIS On May 30, 2007, the Council of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly adopted a statement “On the actions of the authorities of the Republic of Estonia to dismantle the monument to the Liberator Soldier and reburial of the ashes of Soviet soldiers who fell in battles for the liberation of Tallinn from the Nazi occupation” ^[140]
• According to Alexei Mitrofanov , the Russian authorities should put pressure on Estonia ^[141] .
•   Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Lantos, member of the US Congress: “I vividly recall the end of World War II, the heroism of the Russian people and the Russian army, which suffered huge losses during the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation. This historical memory makes me conclude that the transfer of the statue of the Russian soldier in Tallinn, Estonia, was a deeply erroneous step, as this statue symbolizes the heroic sacrifice of the people of Russia and other republics for many years ” ^[142] .
•   The Nashi youth movement repeatedly tried to organize the so-called “Memory Watch” at the old location of the monument ^{[143] [144] [145] [146] [147]} . All watch attempts were immediately stopped by the Estonian police, and representatives of the movement were expelled from Estonia.
•   Estonian sociologist and publicist Juhan Kiviryahk ^[148] and some Russian analysts ^[149] expressed the opinion that the riots on the evening of April 26 and the associated transfer of the monument on the night of the 27th were planned in advance by members of the Estonian government ^[40] .
•   In April 2017, the former Prime Minister of Estonia, Andrus Ansip, said: “On the Bronze Night, many local Russians realized that Estonia is independent ... Having seen everything that happened in the Crimea and in the east of Ukraine , we should say that we managed”, - said Ansip in an interview with the ERR news portal. He confirmed that he sees the connection between the events in Estonia in 2007 and the Ukrainian conflict that began in 2014. “Yes, the schemes were very similar. As is known, the tension around this „Bronze Soldier“ has been intensified over the years, it has only grown. Our Estonian secret services said that if the Bronze Soldier was not immediately transferred, then at the latest in three years it would have to be done anyway, and the society would have to pay a much higher price for it. We decided to fix this problem before we can’t do it. ” ^[150]
•   In April 2017, on the tenth anniversary of the riots in Tallinn due to the demolition of the Bronze Soldier, during which a Russian citizen was killed, the Russian embassy in Estonia opened a memorial site. ^[151]
•   In April 2017, a round table conference entitled “Breath of Bronze Nights: what has changed in 10 years?” Was held in Tallinn. The participants of the round table were civil activists, representatives of the Night Watch movement and NGO Dobrosvet, lawyers, journalists, political scientists, participants of the events of the 2007 Bronze Night. ^[152]

• Before dismantling the monument from the Tõnismägi hill, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov , speaking at a meeting of a veteran activist in Moscow, urged Russian citizens not to buy Estonian goods and not to go on holiday to Estonia ^[117] .
• On April 4, some Petrozavodsk stores boycotted Estonian goods ^[153] . The large Russian supermarket chains “The Seventh Continent”, “Kopeyka” and “Samokhval” also stopped the sale of goods produced in Estonia ^[154] . For the boycott of Estonian goods and the termination of economic cooperation, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov ^[155] spoke out.
• On April 27, the Russian State Duma demanded that the government impose economic sanctions on Estonia. Some entrepreneurs have independently started posting on the doors of the shops (especially in Kamchatka) the inscriptions “Estonian goods are not sold here”. The initiative of the State Duma picked up the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda , which called on citizens to boycott Estonian goods.
• The head of the delegation of the Russian State Duma, who visited Tallinn on May 1, the chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, Nikolai Kovalev, said that he opposes the economic sanctions of Russia against Estonia, as they hit the Russian-speaking population of Estonia ^[156] .
• On April 28, the Russian Union of Travel Industry announced a decrease in demand for trips to Estonia caused by riots due to the dismantling of the monument and the siege of the Estonian embassy ^[157] , in addition, on May 3, Estonian tour operators had to cancel flights to Russia due to the inability to ensure the safety of buses and passengers ^{[ 158]} .
• On May 2, Russian Railways OJSC announced the cessation of oil supplies to Estonia, explaining that with repairs ^[159] .
• May 3 The owner of the largest confectionery factory in Estonia, Kalev, Oliver Kruuda (Oliver Kruuda), said that Russian business refused to buy the products of his company ^[160] .
• On May 4, Severstaltrans and Acron announced the suspension of their investment projects in Estonia due to the dismantling of a bronze soldier ^{[161] [162]} . The Severstaltrans project involved the construction of an assembly plant with a production capacity of up to 120,000 all-terrain vehicles per year ^[163] .
• The cost of the state to transfer the monument and eliminate the consequences of the unrest that accompanied it amounted to about 70 million kroons (4.5 million euros). According to the Estonian Delfi news portal, it is much more difficult to calculate the economic damage inflicted on the Estonian state, which consists mainly of Russia's latent sanctions against Estonian enterprises, the consequences of which will only manifest themselves over time ^[164] .
• On 6 August 2007, the Estonian Railway Board decided to reduce 200 workers (8.5% of staff ^[165] ), the majority on the Tallinn - Narva line . The main reason for this is the drop in freight traffic. In the first half of 2007, the Estonian Railway ( est. Eesti Raudtee ) received 46 million kroons of net profit, in the same period of the previous year this figure was 165 million kroons ^[166] .
• According to a number of economists, in 2008 the total losses for Estonia as a result of the events around the Bronze Soldier were estimated at more than 7–8 billion kroons per year ^{[167] [168]} , and in 2014 the amount of losses, according to the former Estonian Prime Minister Tiita Vyahi , has already reached 8 billion euros. ^[169]

Some critics expressed the opinion that the official Russian authorities are inconsistent: according to them, while a strong protest is being voiced against the dismantling of the monument from Tõnismägi, a similar dismantling of military memorials inside Russia is ignored ^[170] .

In particular, critics point to events related to the Krasnaya Gorka memorial in the Leningrad Region . The owner of the memorial, the Navy , intended to dismantle historical artillery installations. As a result of public protests on February 15, it was decided that the guns would be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Leningrad Region ^[171] . Despite this, dismantling continued in April with active opposition from local residents and Rosokhrankultura ^[172] . On May 8, the leaderships of the Navy and the Leningrad Region agreed to suspend construction work and support the initiative of organizing an open-air museum ^[173] . Thus, the demolition of the fort and the construction of a cottage village in this area is canceled ^[174] .

On April 3, 2007, the chairman of the St. Petersburg Government Investment and Strategic Projects Committee (KISP), Maxim Sokolov, reported on conducting a survey on the possibility of building an underground parking lot under the Field of Mars ^{[175] [176]} (the burial site of the victims of the February and October revolution). However, on May 15, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko officially stated that “there will be no underground parking under the Field of Mars” ^[177] .

The transfer of the military memorial in Khimki , associated with the expansion of the Leningradskoye Highway, received considerable publicity. When transferring the remains of dead pilots, contacts and coordination with relatives of the heroes and war veterans were carried out ^[178] . The niece of one of the remaining two stated that no coordination was made with her ^[179] (later she said that her words in the interview were misinterpreted) ^[180] , which provided additional ground for criticism. When the burial was moved, the monument was dismantled ^[181] , the statements of officials about its future fate are contradictory ^{[182] [183]} . On May 6, 2007, the remains of the soldiers were solemnly reburied in the Alley of Heroes at the Novoluzhinsky cemetery in Khimki ^[184] , the monument to the pilots remained at the same place ^[185] .

According to some estimates, the above situations differ from the situation with the “Bronze Soldier” in that in all these cases the causes of the actions are economic goals; in Estonia, in the opinion of most of the participants in the events, the actions were politically motivated. Thus, Igor Ishkov, a participant in the events in Tallinn, a member of the federal political council of the “Young Guard of United Russia”, said: “In all this I see direct political motivation, direct political action directed against Russia” ^[186] .

The actions of the Chinese government in 1999 to transfer the monument to Soviet soldiers who fell in battles for the liberation of Dalian from the Japanese occupation (also made in the form of a soldier in bronze), from the central square of the city to the Russian cemetery Sanlijiao were covered in the Russian press much less and caused a noticeable reaction in the society ^{[187] [188] [189]} .

The government of Uzbekistan dismantled a monument to a Soviet soldier in Jasorat Gods Park in Tashkent, opened in May 1975 in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Victory. The monument was sawed and taken out in parts on trucks. In its place was opened a monument to the Uzbek soldier "Vatanga Kasameed" ("Oath to the Motherland"). This did not cause a noticeable reaction in Russia. ^{[190] [191] [192] [193]}

On December 19, 2009, the Memorial of Military Glory was blown up in Kutaisi , and a woman and her eight-year-old daughter were killed ^{[194] [195]} .

On August 1, 2016, the Central Bank of Russia issued a five-ruble coin from the series “Cities — capitals of states liberated by Soviet troops from Nazi invaders”, dedicated to Tallinn, on the reverse of which a memorial composition “Monument to the Fallen in World War II” is depicted. The number of copies is two million. Composition - steel with nickel plating, weight 6 grams ^{[196] [197]} .

• Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip was awarded the Order of Canadian Estonians for participating in the transfer of the monument to the Liberator Soldier. As Laas Leyvat, Honorary Consul of Estonia in Canada, said at the ceremony, the government acted "skillfully and confidently" when moving the monument ^[198] .
• Estonian sociologist Juhan Kiviryahk was nominated for the Estonian Journalism Award “Best Opinion 2007” (“ Parim arvamuslugu ”) for the article “The Bloody Top of the New Tripartite Union” ^[199] published in the newspaper Eesti Päevaleht April 30, 2007. In it, he criticized the actions of the Estonian government during the crisis around the Bronze Soldier.
• The Finnish scientist and publicist Johan Beckman wrote the book “The Bronze Soldier - the background and content of disputes around the monument in Estonia ”, in which he expressed the opinion that Estonia will not have a future like an independent state.
• On April 26, 2012, on the fifth anniversary of the transfer of the Bronze Soldier, Muscovites lit candles at the Estonian Embassy in Moscow in memory of all Soviet soldiers who fell during the liberation of Tallinn ^[200]

• Bronze soldier - background and content of disputes around a monument in Estonia

• Background and chronicle of events - a detailed investigation of the newspaper Eesti Ekspress
• Project in protest against the transfer of the monument
• Night Watch - Project in protest against the transfer of the monument
• Website in protest against the decision of the Parliament on the destruction of historical monuments in Estonia (English) (inaccessible link) . Archived February 23, 2009.
• Website for the identification of participants in acts of vandalism (Neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Archived September 28, 2007.
• Center for Human Rights Information . Complaints against the actions of law enforcement agencies during the riots in Tallinn on April 26-29, 2007. (Unsolved) (inaccessible link) . Archived September 27, 2007.
• Boris Kagarlitsky "Estonian nationalists got help"
• Military grave in Tallinn (Unsolved) (inaccessible link) . Archived June 4, 2007. - Government of the Republic of Estonia
• Echo "bronze night" - the dismantling of the Estonian economy . Weekly 2000, 08.08.2008

Photo and video

• 360º full-screen panoramas around the monument to the Bronze Soldier (May 9, 2005 and May 9, 2007)
• Remember us! Information about the monument
• In the field of view - the Round Table on ETV (Estonian State TV) 07.05.2007 - the opposing views on events are presented.
• Russian riot in Tallinn