Käkisalmi - Blog Posts

Monument to fallen Finnish soldiers goes missing in Käkisalmi

Käkisalmi is a Finnish town on the Karelian isthmus that was ceded to the Soviet Union.

The monument was erected in 2019. Carved on its sides are the names of the fallen local Finnish soldiers. The years 1939-1945 are carved on the front of the monument. This reflects the Russian version of how the years should be marked. In reality, the Winter War was fought from 1939 to 1940, and the Continuation War from 1941 until 1944.

Screenshots of letters from local administrative authorities have been circulated on Russian social media, urging them to report monuments to citizens of "unfriendly countries" in the Leningrad region. Allegedly, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested information about the monuments urgently.

This could be continuation to the demolition of the monument to fallen Finnish soldiers in Koivisto. According to the Ilta-Sanomat article, the removal of a monument in Kirvu is currently ongoing. Many Finnish war memorials on the ceded territory have also been vandalised with nazi symbols.