Bronze Soldier of Tallinn

The monument consists of a stonewall structure made of dolomite and a two-metre (6.5 ft) bronze statue of a soldier in a World War II-era Red Army military uniform.

[9] The monument was originally erected by Soviet authorities in Estonia to the liberators of Tallinn who entered the city on 22 September 1944.

The Soviet liberation theme was changed when Estonia re-established independence in 1991, now stating "For those fallen in World War II"; at the same time, the flame was extinguished.

The exact number and names of the persons buried in the burial grounds under the monument had not been established with certainty before the excavations of 2007, although the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had ordered a comprehensive historical investigation in 2006.

[12] According to official records of the Military Commissariat of the Baltic Military District, however, the following 13 soldiers who fell during World War II were reburied in the grounds in April 1945: According to the Estonian Ministry of Defence, the remains of 12 persons had been exhumed by 2 May 2007 and would be reburied by the end of June 2007 at the same cemetery where the statue had been relocated.

[19] Most Estonians considered the Bronze Soldier a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression following World War II.

[25] Disagreement over the appropriateness of the action led to mass protests and riots (accompanied by looting) lasting two nights, the worst Estonia has seen.

[26][27] In the early morning hours of 27 April 2007, after the first night's rioting, the government decided, at an emergency meeting, to dismantle the monument immediately, referring to security concerns.

[32][33][34][35] On 27 April 2007, alongside the riots, there was also a huge and coordinated cyber-attack on Estonian institutions, including its Parliament, banks, and newspaper agencies.

On 12 April 2022, the Bronze Soldier entered the news again, when protesters of the Russian attack on Ukraine ground one of the medals off its chest.

[36] This came in the context of a governmental ban on symbols of Russian militarism and public meetings which incite violence, leading up to the anniversary of May 9.