GETTY FILE PICTURE Five people were arrested in the event

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Nationalist supporters walked alongside Latvian veterans who allegedly served in the Waffen SS – the armed wing of Hitler’s paramilitary forces. Five people were arrested in the event, with an estimated 2,000 people taking part. But while the Latvian Legion Day march, which has taken place every year since 1998, was condemned by government officials they still allow the parade to take place on grounds of free speech.

GETTY FILE PICTURE Protests take place annually against the march

Members of the Latvian Legion exclusively fought the Russian Army in the conflict, but critics say this is not enough to distance them from the horrific war crimes of the Nazi regime. Dr Efraim Zuroff of the Jewish human rights organisation Simon Wiesenthal Center has annually condemned the march due to the affiliations of the group. Last year he said: “Some of the people prior to joining the Latvian Waffen-SS Legion served in Latvian security forces, which played an active role in mass murder of the Latvian Jews. “People who fought for victory over Nazi Germany should be considered heroes.”

GETTY FILE PICTURE Memorials are set up to remember fallen soldiers

Moscow expressed their outrage at the parade, claiming it was an attempt to “rewrite history”. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Latvian authorities continue indulging these marches year after year, which is shameful for a contemporary country that is a member of the EU. “Particularly cynical in this context appears to be the official desire from Riga to present the legionnaires as ‘tragic victims’ and ‘defenders of the freedom’ of the Latvian people during the war.

GETTY FILE PICTURE The march has taken place every year since 1998