Russia orders arrest in absentia for Latvian man who damaged Soviet monument in first days of invasion of Ukraine

In May, Moscow's Basmanny District Court issued a default arrest warrant for Latvian IT specialist Viesturs Kavacs in a criminal case over damage to a Soviet monument.

Mediazona stated this in an article, Ukrinform reports .

In late February 2022, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kavacs posted a video on his social media showing him striking one of the monuments at the memorial to Soviet soldiers-liberators of Riga in Pardaugava with a hammer.

"Everyone needs to lend a hand so the work can move forward," he said.

It is noted that the local police later detained the Latvian man on suspicion of vandalism, but nothing was reported about his дальнейшая fate.

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In May 2022, Latvia's parliament and Riga deputies decided to demolish this memorial to Soviet soldiers. The demolition work on the monument was completed at the end of August.

As Ukrinform reported, a court in Moscow also issued a default 14-year prison sentence to Ukrainian businessman Yevhen Chernyak in a case on financing terrorism over his financial support for the "Azov" brigade.