at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted Ambassador of the Russian Federation Vladimir Lipaev “condemned the last speech of President Putin.” We are talking about his words about the city of Narva, after the spread on Friday Messages departments.
Meeting with the Ambassador, Deputy Foreign Minister Rein Tammsaar deplored President Putin’s comments, including his comments on the Estonian city of Narva.
Under the conditions that Russia pursues its vengeful policy of destroying the Ukrainian state and nation, under the guise of the “Russian World” ideology, this is also completely unacceptable. Against the backdrop of aggression against Ukraine, the bill presented in the State Duma this week cancel The resolutions recognizing Lithuanian independence, as well as threats of “minimization” and “demilitarization” against other countries, seem dangerous and irresponsible. Instead of trying to respect international law and start from the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, Russia sought to use propaganda alongside the military, including falsifying history, to achieve its imperialist ambitions.
Estonian diplomats are confident that this approach of Russia is doomed to failure.
Estonia will never tire of repeating that Russia has grossly violated international law by invading Ukraine and must immediately comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice of March 16. We call on Russia once again to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, to end hostilities and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
what did Putin say
The day before, at a meeting with young entrepreneurs, the President of the Russian Federation said that during the Great Northern War, Peter I “did not take anything from Sweden, but gave it back.” Putin, Czar Peter St. Petersburg, he reminded that no European country recognized this area as Russia.
“Everyone recognized it as Sweden, and the Slavs who lived there from time immemorial together with the Finno-Ugric peoples,” he added, noting that this area was under the control of the Russian state. “The situation in the west is the same. “This is about Narva, his first campaign,” he said.
History of Narva
Narva is located on the left bank of the river of the same name, 53,953 people live here (as of January 1, 2022). The city is the third most populated city in Estonia.
An important role in the history of Narva was played by the border location. At the beginning of the 13th century, northern Estonia was captured by the Danes up to the natural geographical boundary, the Narova River. In the Danish land registry of 1241, the village of Narvia is mentioned in part of the territory of the modern city.
In ancient Russian sources, the fortified settlement was first mentioned in the Novgorod I Chronicle of 1256: “In the summer of 6764. Narova.” In 1492, to fight against Livonia, Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow built the Ivangorod fortress opposite Narva.
During the Livonian War, Narva was taken by Russian troops on May 11, 1558.
Tsar Ivan the Terrible planned to make Narva an important commercial and military port of Russia on the Baltic Sea. Orthodox churches were built in the city, many Russian merchants and craftsmen moved here during the 23 years of Russian rule. Narva trade with the cities of Northern Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and England became very profitable and developed rapidly.
However, for the Kingdom of Sweden and the Commonwealth of Nations, the appearance of the Russians in the Baltic Sea was extremely undesirable, so both states went to war. During the siege of 1581, the Swedes managed to capture the city. 9 years later, in 1590, Narva was again surrounded by the Russian army.
In 1595, the Tyavzinsky Peace was signed between the Russian Empire and Sweden, in which Moscow forever renounced its claims to the cities of Narva and Revel, but took all the lands east of the Narova River.
Peter, I really started the Northern War in an attempt to recapture Narva. The Russian army besieged the city, but was defeated by Swedish troops in November 1700. Only in August 1704 Russian troops took Narva. As a result of the Northern War, Estonia and Livonia were ceded to the Russian Empire, while Narva became St. Petersburg province.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Narva city government sent a petition to Petrograd to separate Narva from the Yamburg district and transfer it to the Estland province. On November 16, 1917, the request was granted. After Germany’s defeat in the First World War, the Red Army captured Narva in November 1918 and then launched an offensive deep into Estonia.
In February 1920, according to the peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Estonia, Narva remained a part of Estonia. In 1940, Narva was annexed to the Soviet Union as part of the Estonian SSR.