Police in Tallinn, Estonia, had to use tear gas to disperse protesters against Estonian authorities' decision to remove a World War II monument to Soviet soldiers. Angry demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles at police at a Soviet war memorial in Estonia's capital as authorities prepared to remove bodies from a grave at the site and relocate them despite Russia's objections.
Six policemen and a number of protesters were lightly injured, police spokeswoman Julia Garanza said. By midnight, the situation was under control and most protesters had gone home, she added.
The violence broke out late after about 1,000 demonstrators staged peaceful rallies throughout the day to protest government plans to remove the Bronze Soldier monument and adjacent war grave in downtown Tallinn.
The Estonian authorities' have decided to exhume and identify the remains of Soviet soldiers buried at the site.
Moscow has accused the Baltic state of encouraging Nazism and discrimination against ethnic Russians.
"If the Nazis could not cope with living [soldiers], the Estonian government is trying to cope with dead ones," said Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the State Duma, parliament's lower house.
"I think it's absolutely repulsive," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "I think this is blasphemy."Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov called for economic sanctions against Estonia and rerouting the transit of Russian exports to other countries.
Some protesters said police fired tear gas, but police spokeswoman Tuuli Harson said they used a type of powder for crowd control. They also tried to disperse the crowds with stun grenades.
"People tried to break through line and attacked police officers," she said. Eleven people were detained, Harson said. Some protesters shouted, "Estonia is a disgrace," and one was detained after trying to jump the police barrier. Three others were detained after locking themselves in a car and refusing to obey police orders. Officers smashed the windows of the car.
Police cordoned off the area around the memorial in the run up to May 9 VE Day. The six-foot statue, which could also be dismantled and relocated, has become a rallying point for ethnic Russians. Following clashes with Estonian nationalists near the statues the authorities called for the Bronze Statue and other monuments "dividing society" to be removed.
Estonia's prime minister said earlier Thursday the work, being done under a Defense Ministry recommendation in mid-March, could last two weeks to four months. Andrus Ansip also said the central square was not a proper burial place.
"We cannot talk of respect for wartime graves, when people stage rallies, wave flags and consume alcohol there," the premier said, adding the Soviet soldiers would be laid to rest a military cemetery on the outskirts of Tallinn.
Moscow has threatened Tallinn with economic sanctions and said it could refer the case to the European Union, the Organization for Security and Organization in Europe, and NATO.
Russia already initiated a resolution to condemn plans by the EU member to remove the memorial at the Council of Europe earlier April.
The Russian delegation in Strasbourg also insisted the European body address the recent closure by Polish authorities of a Russian exhibition at Poland's Auschwitz death camp memorial, and Hungarian radicals' plans to remove a Soviet WWII memorial from central Budapest.
Soviet troops invaded the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - in 1940, but were pushed out by the Nazis a year later. The Red Army retook them in 1944 and occupied them until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Anticipating unrest, Estonia's border guards this week stepped up security checks on the frontier with Russia and Tallinn's police force was beefed up with reinforcements from across the country. The prime minister has said the excavations would last up to two weeks.
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