According to the Russian news agency TASS, Russia has put Estonia’s former police chief Elmar Vaher and former foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu on its wanted list, Postimees reports.
Criminal cases have been initiated against Vaher and Reinsalu in relation to the destruction of monuments erected in honor of soldiers of the Soviet regime who fought in World War II, according to TASS.
In addition to Vaher and Reinsalu, Sarunas Vaitkus, mayor of Palanga, Lithuania, and deputy mayor Sime, Rytis Rackauskas, mayor of Panevezys, Lithuania, and deputy mayor Loreta Masilioniene, as well as Janis Vitenbergs, a member of the Latvian parliament and former minister of economy, have also been declared wanted. Additionally, Marek Chazewski, the mayor of Malbork, Poland, and Jerzy Wrembiak, former mayor of Brzeg, are now wanted.
TASS reported that Russian law enforcement authorities have stated that all current and former state officials in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are wanted in Russia under a legal provision related to the damaging and destruction of statues and monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers.
Previously, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, State Secretary Taimar Peterkop, and Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets were also declared wanted in Russia. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was briefly added to Russia’s wanted list before being removed.
The TASS article, representing the Kremlin’s perspective, explains that following the start of the “special operation” — meaning the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022 — acts of vandalism against monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers began occurring in Western countries, which the Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns. The Russian Foreign Ministry has labeled this a disgraceful phenomenon.
Source: BNS
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