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Officials from several Baltic countries declared wanted by Russian Interior Ministry

Additionally, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys has been declared wanted by the Russian Interior Ministry for destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop have been declared wanted on criminal charges, according to the relevant Russian Interior Ministry database.

"Kaja Kallas. Wanted under an article of the Criminal Code," the database says, without specifying the article. Peterkop has been also put on the wanted list on criminal charges, according to the ministry’s database.

Russian law enforcement sources told TASS that, "criminal charges have been brought against Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop over the destruction and damage to [war] memorials to Soviet soldiers." "Within the framework of this case, they have been declared wanted," a source in law enforcement said.

Additionally, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys has been declared wanted by the Russian Interior Ministry for destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers.

Last September, Russia’s Investigative Committee prosecuted in absentia over 170 foreign nationals, including citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine, for desecrating and destroying war memorials erected in honor of Soviet soldiers. It was noted that 16 criminal cases were in the process of being investigated, involving 143 facts of desecration, destruction or damage to military burial sites, monuments and memorials to Soviet soldiers.

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