Civil unrest in Estonia over the removal of Soviet era memorials has been accompanied by attacks against the Baltic nation’s internet infrastructure.

Several Estonian government websites remain unavailable whilst others, such as that of the Estonian Police, remain available only in text-only forms as a result of sustained denial of service attacks.

The removal of monuments to Soviet soldiers and the excavation of World War II Red Army graves over the weekend sparked riots that have spilled over onto the internet, Finnish security firm F-Secure reports

The Estonian governments said the monuments had become a public order menace as a focus for Estonian and Russian nationalists. But excavating the graves and relocating a bronze statue on Friday brought condemnation from Moscow and three days of clashes in the Estonian capital Tallinn between riot police and ethinic Russian protestors. An estimated 1,000 have been detained.

One man was stabbed to death and 150 injured in the worst violence to affect the country since it gained its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, CNN reports reports. In response, the Estonian government has banned public gathering in Tallinn. ®

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