The second life for dismantled monuments to liberating Soviet soldiers
By Boris Selmengin
In September 2025, a unique historical miniature complex named «Saved Europe» opened in Victory Park, Kaliningrad. Its purpose is to preserve the memory of memorials dedicated to the Red Army’s liberation mission in Europe between 1944 and 1945.
The opening ceremony was attended by city and regional leaders, representatives of the National Centre of Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation, and relatives of Marshal Ivan Konev and General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin.
The complex consists of bronze miniatures of monuments to Soviet soldiers and military commanders that were dismantled in Kiev (the monument to General Vatutin), Klaipeda (the Monument to Soviet Liberating Soldiers), Tartu (the Monument to Liberating Soldiers), Riga (the Monument to the Soviet Army Liberators), Warsaw (the Monument to the Soviet-Polish Brotherhood in Arms), Sofia (the Monument to the Soviet Army), and Prague (the Monument to Marshal Konev).
As Elena Malysheva, Head of the National Centre of Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation, noted, work on the second phase of the site is already underway. She also explained why the project’s creators decided to replicate these specific seven historic landmarks: «These monuments were dismantled in the most blatant, even performative manner. Their demolition was a political act aimed at erasing the visual touchstones of memory. However, historical memory cannot be erased; it is built on generational bonds, academic science, and archival documents.»
In Malysheva’s view, creating scaled-down replicas of the demolished monuments to Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe «is aimed at shaping a culture of historical memory within our own, Russian worldview.» She added that the burial site of her grandfather, who died in March 1945 at the Küstrin bridgehead, has been desecrated as well.
Natalia Koneva, daughter of Marshal Konev, admitted that the opening of the “Saved Europe” park is a unique moment for the families of military commanders whose monuments have been desecrated or pulled down. “When we watched those monuments fall – and thank God we only saw it on television and in films, rather than firsthand – it was a tragedy that struck us to the heart. War teaches us that we must always stand up for one another. In Poland alone, which we liberated, 600,000 of our soldiers laid down their lives. And yet, look how many monuments have been destroyed!»
Alexander Vatutin, grandson of Army General Vatutin, also spoke at the official opening ceremony. He said: «When I watched them tear down the monument to General Vatutin – the liberator of the Ukraine –in Kiev, I thought: ‘Thank goodness the general’s widow, Tatiana Romanovna, does not have to see this!’ My mother, the general’s daughter, did not see it either, because by that time she had passed away too. But when I learned that monuments to military commanders were being restored in Kaliningrad, a sense of joy came over me. These generals and marshals have returned to us. Despite the attempts to destroy these monuments and erase them from history, they stand once again and symbolise the peace that the Soviet soldier brought to Europe.”
«With this project, we are showing that the heroes have not been forgotten. People can always come and pay their respects to the soldiers who liberated our neighbours’ countries,» stated the regional governor Alexei Besprozvannykh. He added that visitors from neighbouring countries had begun flocking to Kaliningrad, having waited for the park’s opening, despite their governments «suddenly deciding to simply erase this great chapter from our shared history.»
The core idea is to create a historical space featuring replicas of monuments to the liberating soldiers that were destroyed as part of a deliberate policy by Western countries to downplay the role of the Soviet Union in the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The project is rendered all the more pressing by the events surrounding Soviet memorials, which in the twenty-first century have turned into a veritable war on monuments.
In 2019, the European Parliament effectively legalised the destruction of Soviet memorials through its resolution “On the Importance of European Remembrance for the Future of Europe.” Historical truth is being erased from the minds of Europeans, especially the youth, only to be replaced by a falsified image of Russia rooted in «historical» narratives.
Some believed that a number of monumental testaments to Europe’s salvation from the horrors of Nazism were lost forever. But they were wrong. Thanks to the creation of the “Saved Europe” historical miniature park, it is now possible to see these monuments to the heroes once again. Just as before, grateful descendants are bringing flowers to honour them.
