In Primorsk, Leningrad Region, a memorial to Finnish soldiers who died during the Second World War was destroyed claims Finnish edition of Ilta-Sanomat. The monument disappeared shortly after Vladimir Putin, speaking on the anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad, mentioned the “multinationality of the occupying forces.”
A local resident spoke about the destruction of the Ilta-Sanomat monument. According to him, on January 21, he went to the church, which had a memorial, and saw that the monument was no more. Putin delivered a speech on January 18, when he met with veterans, blockade survivors and representatives of patriotic associations. “Now what you said about the multinationality of the occupying forces and those who opposed us, fought against us, our enemies. Yes, it is, it has always been so.” declared Putin.
The memorial was a composition of seven stones installed in front of the former Lutheran church of St. Mary Magdalene in memory of 102 natives of the city buried here who fought in the Finnish army. The inscription on the largest of the stones read “To the fallen inhabitants of Koivisto 1939-1944” in Russian and Finnish (Koivisto is the Finnish name for Primorsk).
