“What is currently happening in the Baltic countries is unacceptable and will undoubtedly affect bilateral relations with those nations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on its website.

The governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, former republics of the former Soviet Union, dismantled practically all the monuments dedicated to the Soviet forces that liberated said countries from the yoke of Nazi Germany during World War II.

The diplomatic entity explained that cases of vandalism against monuments in these three countries increased since the start of Russia’s military operation launched with the aim of stopping Ukrainian bombing of civilians in the Donbass region.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also condemned the barbaric methods used by Riga, Vilna and Tallinn to get rid of the Soviet historical legacy.

“We have taken and will take asymmetric measures, particularly in the political and economic fields. The responsibility will lie with the authorities of those three countries that refuse to understand what they are doing,” the Ministry stressed.

pgh/llp/mem/odf