A monument to Soviet soldiers was taken down at a military cemetery in Lithuania’s second-biggest city of Kaunas, the latest in the series of Soviet memorial take-downs prompted by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Saulius Rimas, head of the cultural heritage division at Kaunas Municipality, told BNS that the sculpture of the soldier had been temporarily moved from Aukštieji Šančiai Cemetery to storage with a municipal waste management company.
Read more: Lithuanian municipalities allowed to remove Soviet heritage at cemeteries
“We think that it could be exhibited in Grūtas Park in the future,” he said, referring to a privately-owned museum of Soviet-era sculptures. “If the park’s owners approached Kaunas City Municipality, such a request would be considered.”
The move is the latest in a series of removals of Soviet World War Two monuments in Lithuanian cities and towns.
In the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Culture Minister Simonas Kairys last week signed a decree to give more leeway for local authorities to decide on whether to remove Soviet monuments in cemeteries.
Grūtas Park, an open-air museum in southern Lithuania, houses dozens of Soviet-era statues, most of them removed from public places across the country.
Read more: World War Two memory takes on fresh controversy in Lithuania amid Ukraine invasion
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