Lithuania marks on Friday the 21st anniversary of clashes between protesters and Soviet troops that killed 14 and left 600 injured.
On the night of January 13, 1991, a convoy of Soviet vehicles moved into the center of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Clashes for possession of the TV tower left 14 people dead, including a Soviet Alfa force officer. At least 600 were injured.
The clashes were the culmination of protests in Lithuania that began earlier in the month, prompting Moscow to deploy special forces and airborne troops to hold key facilities in the republic.
Lithuania’s Supreme Soviet (parliament) had declared the republic’s independence on March 11, 1990, a move the Soviet authorities denounced as unconstitutional.
Soviet special forces commanders said the January 13 clashes were a provocation, and all the victims, including the Alfa officer, were gunned down by snipers.
Lithuania’s top security official in 1990-91, Audrius Butkevicius, later said in interviews that he had ordered snipers of the Sąjūdis, or the Reform Movement of Lithuania, to sit in the buildings next to the tower and shoot people.
In the morning of January 13, candles can be seen in the windows of houses and government buildings lit in the memory of those who died in the clashes.
The Sejmas, or parliament, held a special session on Friday devoted to the 1991 events, with the leadership of the country, foreign diplomats and Russian human rights ombudsman Sergei Kovalyov attending.
In the morning, President Dalia Grybauskaitė presented awards to those who defended the republic’s freedom and independence in January-September 1991.
“We must let doubts stay in the past, but not the truth about the January events. There should be a statute of limitations on cynicism but not the restoration of justice,” the presidential press service quoted Grybauskaitė as saying.
Ceremonies of remembrance will be held at the Antakalnis cemetery in Vilnius, and at locations in other cities. A mass will be conducted in the Vilnius Cathedral and other churches across Lithuania in the memory of those who died.
