The Estonian government is to rehouse a Soviet-era war memorial by a key World War II anniversary next month.
'I expect the Bronze Soldier to stand at the miltary cemetery by 8 May, the day of victory of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II,' Estonian Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo told a news conference.
The 2.5-metre high statue was removed early today from the site in central Tallinn where it had stood for decades, after riots raged through the capital last night.
One person, a Russian citizen, was killed in the clashes, which erupted on Friday night and which authorities have denounced as vandalism having nothing to do with the war monument.
More than 150 people were injured in the two nights of violence and nearly 1,000 have been temporarily detained, many of them under-age.
Already, 46 people have been arrested pending the start of formal investigations.
Estonians see the bronze statue as a symbol of 50 years of Soviet occupation following World War II, while Russians see it as a sacred memorial to the millions of Red Army soldiers who died fighting the Nazis.
