Soviet War Memorials are memorials commemorating the activities of Soviet Armed Forces in any of the wars involving Soviet Union, but most notably World War II. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, many of the memorials, especially the ones dedicated to the activities of Soviet Armed Forces in former

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

countries during World War II, have been removed, relocated, altered or have had their meaning reinterpreted (such as the

Liberty Statue Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...

in Budapest).

Austria

Soviet War Memorial (Vienna) The Soviet War Memorial in Vienna, more formally known as the Heroes' Monument of the Red Army (german: Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee), is located at Vienna's Schwarzenbergplatz. The semi-circular white marble colonnade partially enclosing a twel ...

Bulgaria

Alyosha Monument, Plovdiv Alyosha (an affectionate diminutive of Aleksey) is an tall reinforced concrete statue of a Soviet soldier on Bunarjik Hill in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The statue tops a pedestal lined with granite. The memorial commemorates Soviet casualties incur ...

Monument to the Soviet Army, Sofia The Monument to the Soviet Army ( bg, Паметник на Съветската армия, ''Pametnik na Savetskata armia'') is a monument located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. There is a large park around the statue and the surrounding ...

* ,

Byala Slatina Byala Slatina ( bg, Бяла Слатина ) is a town in Northwestern Bulgaria. It is located in Vratsa Province. As of December 2016, the town has a population of 10,282 inhabitants. It is the seat of Byala Slatina Municipality Byala Slatina ...

China

* * * ,

Shengyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the province ...

* Monument to the Soviet Army Martyrs in the

Czech Republic

* Monument to Soviet Tank Crews (first painted, later removed) *

Statue of Ivan Konev The statue of Ivan Konev was a monument to Soviet general Ivan Konev that was erected in Prague in 1980. In the late 2010s, it became a subject of controversy within Czech Republic–Russia relations, resulting in its removal in 2020. History ...

(removed in 2020) * (removed in 1991) * * * * *

Germany

* Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park), a memorial in Treptower Park, Berlin *

Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) The Soviet War Memorial (german: link=no, Sowjetisches Kriegerdenkmal) is one of several war memorials in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate its war dead, particularly the 80,000 soldiers of the Sov ...

, a memorial in Tiergarten, Berlin *

Soviet War Memorial (Schönholzer Heide) The Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal in der Schönholzer Heide) in Pankow, Berlin was erected in the period between May 1947 and November 1949 and covers an area of 30 000 m². The memorial contains the largest ...

, a memorial in Schönholzer Heide, Berlin

Estonia

* Bronze Soldier of Tallinn (relocated to

Tallinn Military Cemetery The Defence Forces Cemetery of Tallinn ( et, Tallinna Kaitseväe kalmistu), sometimes called the Tallinn Military Cemetery ( et, Tallinna Sõjavae kalmistu), is one of the three cemeteries of the Tallinn City Centre Cemetery (Estonian: ''Siselin ...

in 2007) * (removed in 2022) * (removed in 2022) * (removed in 2022) *

Hungary

Liberty Statue (Budapest) The ''Liberty Statue'' or ''Freedom Statue'' ( hu, Szabadság-szobor ) is a monument on the Gellért Hill in Budapest, Hungary. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary. History ...

, the Soviet inscription has been replaced * Liberty Square (Budapest) * Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Memorial, now in

Memento Park Memento Park (Hungarian: ''Szoborpark'') is an open-air museum in Budapest, Hungary, dedicated to monumental statues and sculpted plaques from People's Republic of Hungary, Hungary's Communist period (1949–1989). There are statues of Vladimir Le ...

Latvia

Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders The Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders,; russian: Памятник освободителям Советской Латвии и Риги от немецко-фашистских захватч� ...

(removed in 2022) * *

North Korea

Liberation Monument The Liberation Monument is a monument in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was built in 1947 to honour Red Army soldiers who took part in capturing Korea from Imperial Japan during the final stage of the Second World War. Soviet paratroopers took contro ...

, Pyongyang

Poland

After 2017, Poland's

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

(PiS) government destroyed most of the Soviet War Memorials in Poland. * *

Monument to Brotherhood in Arms The Monument to Brotherhood in Arms ( pl, Pomnik Braterstwa Broni) was erected in in Warsaw's Praga district, in 1945, to commemorate the joint fight of Polish and Soviet soldiers against Nazi Germany. In 2011, it was temporarily taken down duri ...

, Warsaw (removed in 2011) * (removed in 2018) * (removed in 2018) * (removed in 2022) * (removed in 2019) * (removed in 2022) * (removed in 2014) * (removed in 2018) * (removed in 2017) * Soviet Military Cemetery, Warsaw

Romania

Other

Joseph Stalin is still quoted in stone in German and Russian at least in Treptow and Vienna.Kriza, Elisa. (2018). The Stalin plaque in Vienna: hiding and showing history. European Review of History. 26. 1-19. 10.1080/13507486.2018.1505832. Such inscriptions have been generally removed in Soviet Union and Soviet block countries as part of

de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

References

{{Reflist Soviet military memorials and cemeteries World War II memorials