(3 Jul 2007)
1. Wide of monument to Red Army soldiers, coffins with the remains of the soldiers nearby
2. Guard standing next to monument
3. Wide of gathered media
4. Priests pouring holy water on coffins
5. Close-up of sign on monument reading: (Russian) "To those fallen in World War II"
6. Wide of coffins being put into graves
7. Wide of Estonian officials at the ceremony
8. Close-up of coffins
9. Wide of guards next to monument
10. Priests standing next to grave
11. Close-up of guard
12. Wide of people shovelling soil onto the coffins
13. Close-up of coffins in grave
14. Wide of gathered media
15. Wide of people putting fir branches onto the grave
16. Close-up of branches on grave
17. Close-up of monument
18. Mid of priests
19. Wide of guards laying wreath at monument
20. Guards putting plaque next to grave
21. Wide of Estonian Defence Minister, Jaak Aaviksoo
22. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonian Defence Minister:
"I hope that one day they (soldiers buried in unknown graves) find their place of last peace on cemeteries. And maybe this day, when we bury these eight fallen soldiers here on the military cemetery of the Republic of Estonia, we can look forward to continuing negotiations with the Russian Federation concerning war graves."
23. Wide of people laying flowers on the grave
24. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Liudmila Samoilova, Russian World War II veteran:
"I want to say, that the fact that the Russian Embassy and veterans are boycotting (the ceremony) - that is not right. The dead are not guilty of this opposition. Even if they have not found some solidarity - they still had to come and pay the tribute to the soldiers' memory."
25. Wide of World War II veteran Liudmila Samoilova saluting to the grave
26. Wide of monument
STORYLINE:
Estonia on Tuesday reburied the remains of eight Soviet soldiers which had been exhumed from a war grave in a move that sparked riots and infuriated neighbouring Russia.
The eight white caskets were lowered into the ground at the Defence Forces cemetery in a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo, foreign diplomats and World War II veterans.
Russian Ambassador to Estonia, Nikolai Uspensky declined an invitation to take part in the ceremony.
The Russian Embassy said he would attend a separate ceremony at the cemetery later on Tuesday along with Russian war veterans.
Already tense relations between Russia and Estonia plummeted to a new low after the Estonian government removed the war grave and an adjacent Soviet monument from downtown Tallinn in April.
Moscow condemned the move, and members of the Baltic country's Russian-speaking minority staged protests that degenerated into street riots that left one dead and over a hundred injured.
For Russians, the so-called Bronze Soldier monument and the war grave signified the enormous human sacrifice the Soviet Union made in defeating Nazi Germany.
Ethnic Estonians, however, regard the monument as a symbol of five decades of Soviet occupation and totalitarian rule that ended with Estonian independence in 1991.
"The Russian side has made statements on the highest level about the unacceptable dismantling of the monument, conducting excavations and attempts to rewrite history for the sake of domestic political gains," a Russian Embassy statement said.
The remains of 12 Red Army soldiers were exhumed from the war grave after authorities removed the statue.
The statue was then re-erected at the Defence Forces cemetery, about three kilometres (two miles) from the previous location.
Many Estonians said they were insulted by the gesture.
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