Tussle in Tallinn Over Red Statue

Yet more wit and wisdom from the Guardian .
Here we have Konstantin Kosachev denouncing the plans of the Estonian government to remove a monument in central Tallinn to the Soviet soldiers who "liberated" Estonia from the Nazis. Many Estonians consider their relationship with the Red Army not the most fortunate event in their history and there have been violent clashes at the site between Russian and Estonian speakers.
Kosachev gives his own take on that bit of Baltic history (italics added)...

Estonians argue that the liberation of their country by Soviet soldiers was in fact the beginning of a new occupation. But a distinction must be made between the political realities of the day and the ordinary people who fought in the war. The Stalinist, communist state that according to Estonian radicals occupied Estonia also brought political repression for millions in the rest of the Soviet Union. The secret protocols of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact, which assigned the Baltic states to the Soviet sphere of influence, were condemned by the Soviet parliament as long ago as 1989, and declared null and void.

Moreover, the men and women who fought in the Red Army believed they were ridding the world of fascism - and that is what they did. They and their children can't be held responsible for crimes committed later. It is unforgivable to equate liberators with occupiers.

So when actually does he think the crimes of Stalin took place ?
Does he think the Estonians are worked up over the way they were treated in the 1970's


By the way is it me or does the statue look like it was designed by Jack Kirby?