Row over Estonian WW II memorials re-location

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov has described the Estonian proposals to move World War II memorials as blasphemy and state vandalism. Work on the re-location of the monument could start as soon as May this year.

The law allows reburial of Soviet soldiers from a common grave in the centre of the capital Tallinn, and re-location of a controversial monument to the Soviet soldiers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also stepped into the row over the Estonian war memorials. He has dubbed the Estonian government's decision to move a statue that commemorates Soviet warriors as 'dangerous and short-sighted'.

Speaking in Sochi at a press-conference after negotiations with the German Chancellor, he reminded how Soviet monuments in Germany were restored, and compared that with the current situation in Estonia.