Several Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts occurred in 1991, after
Lithuania declared its independence from the
Soviet Union on 11 March 1990. As a Soviet republic, the
Lithuanian SSR did not have a state border with
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
or
checkpoints
Checkpoint may refer to:
Places
* Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected
* Security checkpoint, erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary cont ...
. The newly declared Republic of Lithuania began establishing the
State Border Guard Service, before it was internationally recognized on 27 August 1991 by the states of the
European Community.
These posts also became a symbol of its struggle for independence.
[ The Soviet government viewed the customs posts as illegal and sent the OMON (Special Purpose Police Unit) troops to harass the posts, especially those along the eastern border with Belarus. The unarmed][ custom officers and armed policemen were intimidated, beaten or killed, their cars were stolen or bombed, the posts were burned down or wrecked, and work of the checkpoints was otherwise disrupted.][ Two of the incidents resulted in the deaths of a total of eight Lithuanian citizens. In total, about 60 officers were attacked and injured,][ and 23 border posts were burned or destroyed.][
]
Early attacks
The first incident occurred on 17 December 1990 in Eišiškės
Eišiškės (, pl, Ejszyszki, russian: Эйши́шки/Eishishki, be, Эйшы́шкі/Eishyshki, yi, אײשישאָק/Eyshishok/Eishishok) is a small city in southeastern Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is situated on a small group ...
.[ Shift leader Petras Pumputis was beaten, lost consciousness, and was taken to a hospital with a ]cerebral hemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
. The first organized attacks were organized following the events of 11–13 January 1991 in Vilnius when 14 civilians were killed near the Vilnius TV Tower
The Vilnius TV Tower ( lt, Vilniaus televizijos bokštas) is a high tower in the Karoliniškės microdistrict of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the tallest structure in Lithuania, and it belongs to the SC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre ( lt ...
. Soviet troops attacked and burned border posts in Medininkai
Medininkai (; be, Меднікі) is a village in Lithuania, located east of Vilnius city municipality and from the Lithuanian–Belarusian border.
The village is situated on the Medininkai Highland, near the highest points of Lithuania � ...
and Lavoriškės on 27 January.[ On 1 March, OMON troops fired at a border guard bus returning from Vilnius. Three Lithuanian guards were injured.][
In mid-May 1991, various incidents were reported almost daily. On 18 May, Belarusian police captain A. Fiyaz (A. Фиязь) fired at a Lithuanian post in ]Šalčininkai
Šalčininkai (, , yi, סאָלעטשניק ''Solechnik'', be, Салечнікі) is a town in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus.
Šalčininkai attained the town status in 1956 and is now ...
with a TT pistol; Fiyaz was killed when a Lithuanian officer returned fire with a hunting rifle.[ Fearing retaliation, the Lithuanian officers were ordered to leave their posts. Officer Gintaras Žagunis did not leave his station in Krakūnai and was killed on 19 May. Žagunis was given a public funeral in the ]Antakalnis Cemetery
Antakalnis Cemetery ( lt, Antakalnio kapinės, pl, Cmentarz na Antokolu, be, Антокальскія могілкі), sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is an active cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. I ...
. The same night two other posts were burned down.[ On 23 May, OMON troops from Riga assaulted border posts on the Lithuanian–Latvian border in , ]Mažeikiai
Mažeikiai (; Samogitian: ''Mažeikē''; lv, Mažeiķi) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 43,547, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania. The city is the administrative center of M ...
, , Saločiai, .[ Five Latvian posts were also attacked. The attack on Smėlynė was filmed by ]Alexander Nevzorov
Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Гле́бович Невзо́ров; born on 3 August 1958) is a Russian (since 2022, also Ukrainian) television journalist, film director and a former member of the Russian State D ...
and later shown on Leningrad TV
5TV is a television channel based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Alexey Brodskiy serves as the director general, with Ljubov Sovershaeva serving as the general producer.
History
Channel 5 succeeded the nationwide Leningrad TV channel dating back t ...
.[
Following these attacks, Lithuanian Prime Minister ]Gediminas Vagnorius
Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again ...
officially complained to Boris Pugo
Boris Karlovich Pugo, OAN ( lv, Boriss Pugo, russian: Борис Карлович Пуго; 19 February 1937 – 22 August 1991) was a Soviet Communist politician of Latvian origin.
Biography Early life and education
Pugo was born in Kalinin, ...
, Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs in charge of OMON troops. Moscow denied responsibility for the attacks and claimed that the OMON troops acted without their approval.[ Mikhail Gorbachev disclaimed any knowledge of the attacks and ordered Pugo to investigate. However, on 24 and 25 May five more posts were assaulted.][ Lithuania appealed to western countries asking to protest about the actions of the Soviet government. Moscow continued to deny responsibility, but admitted that the actions of OMON troops were criminal.][ Despite promises to intervene, the attacks continued through mid-June.][ On 28 June, Moscow took the first actions to discipline OMON – its leaders were called to explain themselves and were reassigned.][
]
Medininkai incident
The most serious attack occurred when OMON troops from Riga attacked the Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai
Medininkai (; be, Меднікі) is a village in Lithuania, located east of Vilnius city municipality and from the Lithuanian–Belarusian border.
The village is situated on the Medininkai Highland, near the highest points of Lithuania � ...
on the Vilnius–Minsk highway on 31 July 1991. It is thought that the attack took place around 04:00 because a watch belonging to one of the victims stopped at this hour.[ Seven officers were shot and killed: Mindaugas Balavakas and Algimantas Juozakas (officers of the Special Division ARAS), Juozas Janonis and Algirdas Kazlauskas (officers of the highway police), Antanas Musteikis, Stanislovas Orlavičius and Ričardas Rabavičius (customs officers).][ Rabavičius died on 2 August in hospital. The only survivor, customs officer ]Tomas Šernas Tomas Šernas (born 28 April 1962 in Vilnius) is a former Lithuanian customs officer and the only survivor of the Medininkai Massacre on 31 July 1991. He survived the point-blank shot to his head, but became disabled. After extensive medical treatm ...
, suffered severe brain damage and became disabled. The ARAS officers were supposed to provide protection to the post and were armed. However, their weapons were missing from the scene and there were no signs of returned fire.[ The Lithuanian officers were forced to lie down on the ground and then shot in the head, execution style.][ Those killed were buried in the ]Antakalnis Cemetery
Antakalnis Cemetery ( lt, Antakalnio kapinės, pl, Cmentarz na Antokolu, be, Антокальскія могілкі), sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is an active cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. I ...
. The victims were awarded the Cross of Vytis (6 September 1991) and the Medal of 13 January (9 January 1992).
The incident occurred during US President George H. W. Bush's two-day visit in Moscow. Bush specifically addressed the incident in one of the press conferences, but downplayed its importance in the Lithuanian struggle for international recognition and shielded Gorbachev from responsibility.[ It was speculated that the assailants wanted to embarrass Gorbachev showcasing his inability to control the situation in the dissolving Soviet Union.][ The attack might have been a response to a treaty between Lithuania and ]Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, newly elected President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
.[ The treaty established formal diplomatic relations and addressed economic and cultural issues between Lithuania and Russia;][ it was seen as an important step towards recognition of Lithuania's independence.][ Another version claims that the guards discovered a large smuggling operation.][
]
Investigation and trials
The attacks stopped after the executions in Medininkai, save for an attack on a post in Kybartai
Kybartai (; russian: Кибартай) is a city in Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.
History
Kybartai was founded under the reign of Sigismund I the Old ...
on 22 August 1991 during the August Coup
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
in Moscow.[ After the coup failed, the Soviet Union disintegrated. Members of OMON dispersed throughout the former union, many of them becoming citizens of the Russia Federation. The Lithuanian government attempted to investigate the attacks and prosecute the suspects, but the efforts were hindered by complex ]extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
requests. In December 1991, the Lithuanians presented to Russia a list of more than 20 people wanted for their involvement in January Events and Medininkai incident.[ However, the Lithuanians were refused even requests to question witnesses.][
]
Trial of Konstantin Mikhailov
In December 2006, the Lithuanian prosecutors issued a European Arrest Warrant for Latvian citizen Konstantin Nikulin, a suspect in the Medininkai killings. He was arrested by Latvian police on 28 November 2007.[ Nikulin had already been tried and received a suspended sentence of 2.5 years in 2004 for his involvement in the January 1991 events in Latvia. After the trial, Nikulin became a key witness to an unrelated murder and changed his surname to Konstantin Mikhailov (Konstantinas Michailovas) as part of a witness protection program.][ On 28 January 2008, the Supreme Court of Latvia decided to extradite Mikhailov to Lithuania, and he was jailed in the ]Lukiškės Prison
Lukiškės Prison ( lt, Lukiškių tardymo izoliatorius kalėjimas; pl, Więzienie na Łukiszkach or simply ''Łukiszki''; be, Лукішкі) was a prison in the center of Vilnius, Lithuania, near the Lukiškės Square.
Construction Back ...
awaiting trial. The case has some 220 witnesses and volumes of written material.[ The statute of limitations for murder is 20 years; thus the expiration date would be July 2011.][ On 11 May 2011, Mikhailov was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.][ Mikhailov appealed against the decision claiming innocence while Lithuanian prosecutors appealed against the decision hoping to convict Mikhailov of crimes against humanity.][ On 6 June 2016, the Appeals Court upheld the life imprisonment sentence and reclassified the crime from murder to "acts against people prohibited by international law" (Article 100 of the ]Criminal Code of Lithuania
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania () is the Criminal Code of Lithuania, the prime source of Law of Lithuania concerning criminal offences.
The Criminal Code came into force together with the Code of Criminal Process, Code of Punishmen ...
).[ Mikhailov appealed the decision to the ]Supreme Court of Lithuania
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Aukščiausiasis Teismas) is the only court of cassation in the Republic of Lithuania for reviewing effective judgements and rulings passed by the courts hearing criminal cas ...
which started its proceedings on 11 January 2017.[ The Supreme Court upheld the conviction on 28 February, but Mikhailov submitted an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.][
]
''In absentia'' trials
Other suspects in the Medininkai case, namely commander Czeslaw Mlynnik (Česlavas Mlinykas), Alexander Ryzhov (Aleksandras Ryžovas), and Andrei Laktionov (Andrejus Laktionovas), are citizens of Russia and have not been extradited.[ In 2009, Ryzhov was tried for organized crime and armed robbery in Saint Petersburg, and in June 2011 he received a 15-year sentence.][ In December 2010, Lithuania amended its ]Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
to allow ''in absentia'' trials in cases of crimes against humanity. In June 2013, the Lithuanians completed pre-trial procedures ''in absentia'' for a trial of the three men for crimes against humanity.[ Lithuania has issued European Arrest Warrants for the three men. All three were sentenced ''in absentia'' to life imprisonment in October 2016; they are also liable to pay 653,850 euros to the state to cover expenses of state funerals, benefits and pensions to relatives, medical expenses of the survivors, etc. as well as a further 100,000 euros in compensation to each parent, spouse, and child of the killed men.][ Another suspect, Igor Gorban, was identified by the only survivor ]Tomas Šernas Tomas Šernas (born 28 April 1962 in Vilnius) is a former Lithuanian customs officer and the only survivor of the Medininkai Massacre on 31 July 1991. He survived the point-blank shot to his head, but became disabled. After extensive medical treatm ...
during Gorban's 2004 trial in Riga. However, Gorban was not charged due to lack of evidence.[
Another ''in absentia'' trial concerns Vilnius OMON commanders Boleslav Makutynovich (Boleslavas Makutynovičius) and Vladimir Razvodov (Vladimiras Razvodovas). They are not implicated in the Medininkai massacre, but are accused of ordering assaults on other border posts and other actions aimed at intimidating the public (in total, 15 specific instances).][ In July 2015, Vilnius District Court found them not guilty.][ The decision was appealed by Lithuanian prosecutors. According to unconfirmed reports, Makutynovich died in November 2015.][ On 24 January 2017, the Appeals Court ruled that the District Court improperly interpreted that crimes against humanity could be committed only in a time of war or other armed conflict and sentenced Razvodov to 12 years imprisonment and 14,000 euros in compensation for damages.][ Razvodov is believed to live in Russia and Lithuania has issued a European Arrest Warrant for him.][
]
References
{{Post-Cold War European conflicts
Political repression in the Soviet Union
History of Lithuania (1990–present)
1991 in Lithuania
1991 in the Soviet Union
Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1991
Lithuania–Russia relations
Conflicts in 1990
Conflicts in 1991
Lithuanian border posts
Terrorist incidents in Lithuania
Post-Soviet conflicts
Attacks on military installations in the 1990s
Military raids