A Latvian who damaged the memorial to the Soviet liberators of Riga with a hammer in the early days of the invasion of Ukraine was arrested in absentia in Russia

In May, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Latvian IT specialist Viesturs Kavacs in absentia in a criminal case for damaging a monument dedicated to defenders during the Great Patriotic War (clause “b” of Part 2 of Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code), Mediazona learned.

At the end of February 2022, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kavacs posted a video on his Twitter where he was striking one of the monuments at the memorial in honor of the Soviet soldiers-liberators of Riga in Pardaugava with a hammer.

“Everyone needs to have a hand in making the work move forward,” he wrote .

Later, the police detained the Latvian on suspicion of vandalism, but his further fate was not reported. In May 2022, the Latvian parliament and Riga deputies approved the decision to demolish the memorial to Soviet soldiers; demolition work was completed at the end of August.