Estonia's border city hangs Putin 'war criminal' banner to combat Russia's propaganda
Narva Museum rehung a banner calling Russia's President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" on Saturday in response to the Russian authorities staging a propaganda concert in the border city of Ivangorod aimed at Estonia's residents.
The giant sign was hung up early on Saturday morning for the fourth year in a row.
A social media post in Estonian, Russian and English from the museum said: "The banner has been raised on the flag tower of Narva Castle as a reminder of the ongoing war in Ukraine and of Russia's war crimes against the Ukrainian people and humanity."
A video showed the short distance between Estonia and Russia across the river and the stages on the riverbank.
Earlier this week, Russia erected stages on the banks of the River Narva, clearly visible to the Estonian side, to broadcast its Victory Day celebrations, marking the end of World War Two.
A core part of Russia's celebrations is the stressing of its role in the "liberation" of Europe from Nazi Germany. Narva's population is majority Russian-speaking, and many people mark the date to remember relatives who died in the war.
However, for Estonia and the Baltic states, the day marks the start of the second Soviet occupation, which lasted from 1945 to 1991.
Estonia's security services say the screens are only installed by the river, with the screens turned towards Narva, and not anywhere else in the city for Ivangorod residents.
The Internal Security Service (ISS/KAPO) has said the organizers of the "concert-cum-political-rally" are attempting to add an "inappropriate and cynical, aggressively political layer of meaning to the commemoration of war victims, exploiting the emotions of Narva residents."
In 2023, in response, the head of Narva Museum Maria Smorževskihh-Smirnova hung the banner on the castle wall, facing Russia. Last year's version compared Putin to Adolf Hitler.
Last year, Smorževskihh-Smirnova was sentenced to 10 years in a prison camp in absentia by a Russian court for her actions. The same year, she was named Estonia's European of the Year after a public vote.
Narva is also hosting its own Europe Day concert in Narva city center on Saturday, which will be attended by Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform).
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Editor: Helen Wright, Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
