The howitzer is not listed as a memorial in any register and questions have already arisen as to why it is positioned outside the entrance of the power plant, Eesti Energia's communications manager Reimo Raja told local newspaper Põhjarannik.

Raja said Sinimäe War Museum has show interest in the weapon and as the company has started renovating its green areas and parking lots, this is a good time to move it.

Andrei Zaitsev, head of the Estonian Energy Workers' Union (Eesti Energeetikatöötajate Ametiühingute Liit), said many employees were unhappy with the move and it creates inter-ethnic tensions.

"This is a memorial to those who died in the Second World War, including those who fought in the Estonian Rifle Corps. I see no reason to associate this memorial with the current war in Ukraine," he said, noting that the howitzer has been maintained and recently repainted by power plant employees. 

The future of Soviet-era monuments still standing in Estonia, and across the Baltic states, has arisen after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One of the most contentious is the tank T-34 monument in Narva.

The howitzer monument commemorates the Soviet victory in the Second World War against Germany. After the victory, the USSR occupied Estonia for a further 50 years.

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