Dismantling of the stelae of the largest military memorial in Lithuania has begun in Vilnius
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In Vilnius, at the Antakalnis cemetery, they began to dismantle six stelae of the largest memorial in Lithuania in honor of Soviet soldiers who fell in the Great Patriotic War.
This was announced on Tuesday by the metropolitan municipality.
The report says that the preparatory work begun last week has been completed, “the contractor is proceeding with the direct dismantling of the stelae.” It is scheduled to be completed by Christmas.
The decision to demolish six steles depicting soldiers of various branches of the military was taken by the Vilnius authorities in June. The dismantling was planned to be carried out before November 1, but the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee, which called for refraining from further dismantling of monuments to Soviet soldiers, prevented.
The Lithuanian authorities asked the committee to withdraw the recommendation, but it was upheld. After that, the vice-mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, said that the position of the UN on this issue is secondary. The mayor’s office called the decision of the committee “unfair” and said that it “won’t be taken into account.”
The Russian Embassy in Lithuania noted that the demolition of monuments by the country’s authorities is carried out contrary to international law.
The memorial at the Antakalnis cemetery, where more than 3,000 soldiers of the Red Army are buried, was created in 1951. In 1984, six stelae were installed there – granite figures depicting fighters of various branches of the armed forces.
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