Riga residents laid flowers at the monument to Soviet soldiers

In Riga, locals laid flowers at the monument to Soviet soldiers at the Pokrovsky Cemetery. This was reported on May 9 by a correspondent of Izvestia.

"My dad was 10 years old when he and his grandmother went to a concentration camp in Germany. It's impossible to forget. We will always remember," said Tatiana, a resident of Riga.

Diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Latvia also laid a wreath at the monument to Soviet soldiers. The delegation was headed by Dmitry Kasatkin, Charge d'affaires of Russia in Latvia.

"I remember the phrase "we can't stand the price." A Russian person does not hesitate to defend a just cause," said Svetlana Vidyakina, a resident of Riga.

"The burials of Soviet soldiers are part of Hungarian history."

Svetlana Gokieli, Head of the Russian-Hungarian Society, on preservation of monuments to the liberators and the authorities' reaction to vandalism cases

In April 2023, the Latvian authorities banned the celebration of May 9th. Now, only events related to Europe Day are allowed in the country.

On April 4, the German Foreign Ministry recommended not to invite official representatives of Russia and Belarus to commemorative events on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and, if necessary, not even to let them go to the place where the ceremonies are held.