Monuments to Soviet soldiers that have been recently removed across Lithuania should be handed over to Grūtas Park, a private museum near Druskininkai in the south of the country, the Cultural Heritage Department says.
The department’s recommendation suggests that before removing local Soviet army-related monuments, local administrations should first assess whether they could be accepted for storage or display in municipal museums or other dedicated spaces.
If not, the recommendation is to hand the dismantled monuments over to Grūtas Park, which displays old Soviet-era statues and monuments in an open-air museum.
Some municipalities have already done this on their own initiative.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has prompted some Lithuanian municipalities to start removing monuments to the Red Army, most of them marking the burial sites of Soviet soldiers killed in World War Two.
Twenty-five municipalities have already asked the Cultural Heritage Department to reassess the protection of of 65 monuments so that they can be removed.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
