After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government agreed to remove the majority of Soviet-era war memorials and to rebury the remains of Red Army soldiers in cemeteries

"Since 2022, we have reburied 70 inappropriately war graves and have found the remains of nearly 2,000 people reburied in cemeteries," Hellar Lill, head of the Estonian War Museum, told "Aktuaalne kaamera"

"We have quite a lot of work ahead of us. It is estimated that it will continue for this year as well as next year," he added.

So far, 15 of the excavated graves have turned out to be empty. The majority of relocated graves were on state land, although several were carried out at the request of private landowners.

One landowner in South Estonia told "Aktuaalne kaamera" that he wanted the remains removed as he did not want the plot to be used as propaganda. After the start of the war in Ukraine, young people started going to the site, laying flowers, and taking photos.

So far, the reburials have cost the state almost €220,000, but the final total will be more than double that figure.

The Ministry of Defense said it does not plan to reduce the number of reburials.

Cultural researcher Epp Annus said the reburial of war graves is one way to save taxpayers' money.

"We have a lot of completely dead places of memory. Truly overgrown. The locals are neither hot nor cold about them, they are quite remote and there is no reason to start large-scale excavations, reburial of remains," Annus said.

However, when it comes to living memorials, the researcher said that action needs to be carefully thought through, and involving both historians and local people.

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