Russia's Putin jabs at Estonia at WW2 parade

MOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin made a thinly veiled attack on neighbouring Estonia today during a parade on Red Square marking the anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.

Estonia's removal of a Red Army monument last month from the centre of Tallinn infuriated the Kremlin and sparked violence in the Estonian capital as ethnic Russians rioted.

Without naming Estonia, Putin made a clear reference to the removal of the statue.

''Those who are trying today to belittle this invaluable experience, those who desecrate monuments to the heroes of the war are insulting their own people (and) sowing discord and new distrust between states and people,'' he said.

Putin congratulated veterans in the shadow of the Kremlin's walls before making his short speech dedicated to the tens of millions of Russians who fell during World War Two.

The Kremlin has sought to foster memories of the Second World War, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, as a way to forge Russian unity after the upheavals and rancour which followed the fall of the Soviet Union.

All Russia's state television channels showed live coverage of the parade, complete with fighter jets, drummer boys and an inspection of the troops by Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who rode around Red Square in an open Soviet ZIL limousine.

Most Russians say the Soviet Union liberated Eastern Europe from fascism; Moscow's former satellites view the Red Army as an occupation force which crushed their independence.

Estonia, annexed by Moscow in 1940, has faced a barrage of criticism from Russian politicians for moving the bronze statue of a Red Army soldier. Poland has shelved laws that would allow it to remove monuments to Soviet soldiers.

Various Russian parties and parliament have appealed to President Vladimir Putin to impose sanctions on Estonia. Cutting energy transits via the Baltic state, a boycott of its goods and severing diplomatic relations are among the proposed steps.

Russian-speakers are a large minority of about 300,000 in the nation of 1.3 million.

REUTERS SKB ND1538