Among the nine projects presented in the online sanctuary, created in the fall of 2023, two relate to Estonia, namely two inanimate objects practically worshiped as idols by some Russian-speaking people residing in Estonia: The "Bronze Soldier" and the "Narva tank."

The latter was relocated to the national war museum in 2022, having originally been displayed just outside Narva, while the bronze statue of a Soviet soldier was moved across Tallinn, from Tõnismägi to the military cemetery, back in 2007.

According to Hellar Lill, director of the War Museum, this propaganda project selected those monuments in Estonia and also Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic which are seen as most significant to the "Russian world" and which are tied to the narrative of the Great Patriotic War, the Russian name for World War Two, which for them began in July 1941, even as the Soviet Union had invaded Poland as early as 1939, and occupied the Baltic states in 1940.

Lill said: "Russia has always sought to use these monuments to convey its political and cultural message."

"That's precisely why they were removed or relocated from public spaces. The attempt to transfer them into the virtual world only confirms that their dismantling was necessary." Lill is convinced that virtual monuments cannot have the same impact as their physical presence," the museum director went on.

Regarding the Narva tank, Lill noted this was a later model of T-34 than those used in World War Two, or more specifically the 1944 Battle of Narva, which it commemorated.

Now, in the museum setting, the Narva tank has been stripped of its propagandist symbolism and is presented as part of the history of World War II and military technology, Propastop reports.

Lill said: "This tank has attracted many Russian-speaking visitors to our museum, allowing them to learn more about the real history of Estonia and, more importantly, a more honest account of World War II events than the narrative presented by our eastern neighbor."

"The question is about who controls public space. Virtual monuments do not allow the 'Russian world' to maintain a presence on foreign soil. Moreover, their presentation in digital format is quite modest," Lill added.

The project, dubbed the "Monument Sanctuary," was launched in Moscow last October and is supported by key organizations, including the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Military-Historical Society, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and other agencies and organizations.

The project was presented as a sui generis collection of interactive monuments, virtually recreated in 3D format, though reportedly has not had the number of monuments added to it which were initially promised.

The Estonian War Museum says it is planning to launch its own database soon, containing photographs and information about monuments removed from public spaces in Estonia and their true significance, location etc.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought Soviet monuments, memorials, war graves, buildings and decorations and other relics back into the limelight, with the most egregious examples being relocated. In the case of human remains, these are always carefully re-interred, if the decision is made to do so.

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