Saaremaa Missile Base to Be Leveled
Decades after the occupation ended, Saaremaa's largest Soviet missile base is in the process of being reconditioned. All above-ground buildings are being demolished and only partially underground concrete structures will be viewable by military buffs who visit the site in the future.
The Dejevo base on the island had an area of 1,500 hectares, constituting an argument against preservation. The state of the buildings was also too precarious.
"The brick and concrete buildings on the surface will be leveled as they were hazardous, with roofs caved in," said the State Forest Management center's Saaremaa forest district chief Marko Trave.
Estonia has close to 150 military sites under heritage conservation, but Dejevo was not considered. Although the elements helped wreck the base, local Saaremaa residents also joined in after the missiles were hauled away in the 1990s.
Kristopher Rikken