Latvia demolished a Soviet-era monument in Riga on Thursday under legislation changed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and despite protests from the Baltic republic’s Russian minority, RFE/RL and Agerpres reported.

The 79-meter-high World War II memorial, which became a meeting place for supporters of the Kremlin in Latvia, was destroyed with explosives.

Latvia, like its Baltic neighbors Lithuania and Estonia, is part of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and has strongly supported Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

The monument was erected in 1979-1985 in honor of the victory of the Soviet army over Nazi Germany.

Every year, thousands of Latvian Russians, who make up about 30% of the country’s population, gather here on May 9 to celebrate the victory in 1945. But most Latvians perceive this date as the beginning of almost 50 years of Soviet occupation, which ended in 1991.

The Soviet monument was one of the last in Latvia

Almost all Soviet-era monuments and plaques, except those located in military cemeteries, were removed in 1991, but the monument in Riga was protected by a 1994 treaty between the Republic of Latvia and the Russian Federation.

In May of this year, the Latvian parliament voted to amend this treaty, which deprived the monument of legal protection.

In 1997, a group of militants tried to demolish the monument with dynamite, but the explosives went off prematurely, killing three people.

Discussions regarding the dismantling of this monument were renewed immediately after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially after the discovery of mass graves in Buchi near Kyiv.

In early August, Estonia announced that it would demolish or relocate all remaining Soviet monuments in the country.

Follow the latest events of the 183rd day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.