Police: May 9 passes mostly peacefully in Tallinn
Members of Tallinn's Russian-speaking community laid banks of red carnations at the Soviet-era Bronze Soldier statue in memory of Soviet soldiers on May 9, marked as "Victory Day" in Russia. Only a few violations were reported, the police said.
Russia marks the end of World War Two on May 9, emphasising its role as a liberator of countries – including Estonia and the Baltic states – occupied by Nazi Germany.
However, for Estonia, the date marks the start of the second Soviet occupation of the Baltics, which lasted almost 50 years until 1991. Public display of symbols associated with the "Victory Day" are banned.
On Saturday, visitors laid wreaths and individual flowers, mostly red carnations, at the foot of the statue, located in the Estonian Defense Forces Cemetery in central Tallinn.
The act, while legal, is closely monitored by the authorities, including for displays of symbols which glorify Russian militarism or the Soviet Union, and which have been banned in public in Estonia following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Head of patrol services at the West Harju Police Department Lennart Kams told ERR the day had passed fairly peacefully, though a couple of violations did occur at the Bronze Soldier site.
"We were prepared for a more difficult day, since it is a Saturday and the weather is actually extremely beautiful. The violations are mostly related to banned symbols, but there have also been a couple of incidents where police officers were insulted," he said.
Estonia marks the end of World War Two on May 8, with the rest of the European Union.
The Bronze Soldier statue was created in 1947. In 2007, it was relocated from Tõnismägi, in central Tallinn, to its current site, an action accompanied by several nights' rioting by Russian speakers.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
