Agents involved in the Russian Federation's monument war against Latvia have started collecting and publishing the names of Latvian politicians who made decisions to tear down monuments dedicated to the Soviet occupation regime and the Red Army.
On the one hand, this could be meant as intimidation, on the other - to stir up the Kremlin-loyal public. There is this one failed Russian spy Dmitry Yermolaev. He was expelled from Latvia fifteen years ago. But the Russian intelligence officer, who was exposed by the Constitution Protection Burea, continues to work on Latvia remotely. Neatkarīgā has already reported that "Kremlin agents threaten to persecute Latvian MPs and send in the army." There are promises of criminal cases against MPs who vote for the demolition of Soviet monuments, their persecution in Russia's Commonwealth countries and even the return of the Russian army to Latvia.
Now the failed spy Yermolaev, calling it a "journalistic investigation", is compiling the decisions taken in Latvia on the removal of monuments glorifying the Soviet regime and publishing the names of those who took them. Another Russian employee working remotely, the "local historian" Alexander Rzhavin, assists Yermolaev with descriptions and pictures of the monuments to be demolished. The two then republish each other's writings, which are then passed on to various Kremlin propaganda sites and social network trolls. Basically, a full-time job for ideological harassment against Latvia. They started with the names of the members of the Saeima, because the Parliament, it should be recalled, has passed a law instructing local authorities to dismantle these objects. Then it was the turn of the Riga City Council deputies, who voted in favor of dismantling the object in Victory Park. The list of the members of the Ogre municipality has just been made public. Ogre was one of the first municipalities to start clearing Latvian land of occupation monuments, even before the law came into force.
Three Soviet memorial stones have already been dismantled in Ogre municipality - in Madliena, Laubere and Tome. A fourth remains, but it has become a strange case. A family of storks have chosen to nest on the erected pillar in a remote rural place in the Lielā muiža manor of Madliena parish. A large nest has been built at the end of the pillar, and you cannot even tell from the distance that the dirty pillar beneath it is a monument. Kremlin agents, of course, present this fact as something magical - "a stork saved a monument to the victims of Nazism near Madliena from vandals and nationalists. If even storks protect monuments to fascist victims, perhaps it is time for people to think about it too?" But such sentimental nonsense does not impress the local people. Neither does scaring them with Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for damaging Soviet monuments and a fine of five million rubles or five years of forced labor. Latvia is not under Russian jurisdiction, and it is up to Latvia what it does with its monuments. Which ones are cared for and which ones are dismantled.
The dirty Soviet monument in the Lielā muiža manor will be demolished. Nikolajs Sapožņikovs, a representative of the municipality, confirms this to Neatkarīgā. The only thing is to wait for autumn, when the birds will fly away, and then the municipality will discuss with experts how to proceed. Maybe erect a pole with a base for the nest instead of the monument, as Latvenergo does to clear its power lines. Or leave it to the birds to find a new site. There are many storks in Latvia, but Latvians like these birds because they symbolize happiness and harmony. In contrast, the Soviet occupation monuments symbolize death, suffering and misery. Both what the Red regime brought with its occupation of Latvia and what Russia is sowing around it today. All these stones, statues and monuments must therefore be taken down. Even the pillar in the Lielā muiža manor, covered in stork droppings. The two Russian agents, on the other hand, should they happen to come to Latvia, should be tried for war propaganda under Section 74.1 of the Criminal Law of the Republic of Latvia: “Acquittal of Genocide, Crime against Humanity, Crime against Peace and War Crime”. This is punishable by five years in prison.