The ministry said the claims were made by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Embassy in Estonia.

A démarche – which formally outlined the Estonian government's view on the situation – was delivered to the Russian chargé d'affaires by the ministry on Thursday.

A press release from the ministry said the message "emphasized that Russia's complaint claiming that Estonia had insufficiently investigated the damage to the tombstones of Soviet soldiers in the Defense Forces Cemetery of Tallinn was baseless."

The ministry said two experts from the Estonian Heritage Board and the University of Tartu were consulted on the damage to the tombstones, working in cooperation with the Estonian War Museum.

"Both experts concluded that it was algae, which spreads mainly on porous substrates, including limestone, from which these tombstones were made. We added that this type of algae also grew on other tombstones in the same cemetery, as well as in the nearby Siselinna Cemetery. These conclusions were forwarded to the Russian Embassy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week," the statement said.

"In addition, we refuted the claim that two grave monuments were removed from the Defense Forces Cemetery in early April. As the Estonian War Museum affirmed there were no graves under either monument, they did not constitute grave monuments, and instead, they were monuments to the Soviet occupation, which have no place in our cultural space. Estonia honors the sanctity of grave sites and respects all who lost their lives."

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