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Video: Victory Day Marked at Bronze Soldier Statue
Photo: Photo: ERR
Although Victory Day is no longer officially observed in Estonia, locals mainly of Russian origin celebrating the May 9 holiday that marks the Red Army's victory over Nazi forces in 1945 gathered at the Defense Forces Cemetery in Tallinn in today to place wreaths and flowers at the foot of the Bronze Soldier statue.
The monument, nicknamed Aljosha, commemorates Soviet soldiers who fought in WWII. It was relocated from downtown Tallinn to the Siselinna Cemetery in 2007 after critics said the statue was a symbol of oppression for the Estonian people.
The former Soviet holiday is now most notably celebrated in Russia, which marks the occasion each year with a massive military parade on Moscow's Red Square.
