The database of the Russian Interior Ministry has shown that the Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, as well as Lithuania’s Minister of Culture Minister, Simonas Kairys, have been placed on the wanted list by Russian authorities.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Kallas is wanted for “desecration of historical memory,” while the Baltic officials, according to the Russian state agency TASS, are facing accusations of “destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers”.
The ministry database also lists Lithuanian Culture and Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop on the wanted list in addition to Kallas.
A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said, “This is only the beginning.”
Zakharova said, “Crimes against the memory of the world’s liberators from Nazism and fascism must be prosecuted.”
Former Soviet Union member states, the Baltics, have declared their intention to destroy Soviet-era monuments. In 2022, Kallas declared that 200 to 400 of these monuments will be taken down by Estonian authorities.
In response, the director of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, gave the order to investigate the situation criminally.
The politicians from the Baltic States only face arrest threats if they cross the Russian border; if they don’t, there won’t be any significant repercussions from being listed as wanted.
Authorities in Lithuania and Estonia have not yet responded to the most recent development.
Numerous Baltic politicians, ranging from members of national parliaments to municipal lawmakers in cities, have been placed on Russia’s wanted list. Furthermore, according to Mediazona, an independent Russian media initiative, the former interior minister of Latvia, Marija Golubeva, was added to the list.
The criminal code article under which they are being prosecuted is not specified in the Interior Ministry database.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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