Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts
Encyclopedia
Several Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts occurred in 1991, after Lithuania
declared its independence from the Soviet Union
on March 11, 1990. As a Soviet republic, the Lithuanian SSR
did not have a state border with customs
or checkpoint
s. The newly declared Republic of Lithuania began establishing the State Border Guard Service
, which also became a symbol of its strive for independence. The Soviet government viewed the customs posts as illegal and sent the OMON
(Special Purpose Police Unit) troops against the posts, especially those along the eastern border with Belarus
. The unarmed, custom officers and policemen were harassed, 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 eight Lithuanian citizens. In total, about 60 officers were attacked and injured, and 23 border posts were burned or destroyed.
. Shift leader Petras Pumputis was beaten, lost consciousness, and was taken to a hospital with cerebral hemorrhage. The first organized attacks were organized following the events of January 11–13, 1991 in Vilnius
when 14 civilians were killed near the Vilnius TV Tower
. Soviet troops attacked and burned border posts in Medininkai and Lavoriškės on January 27. On March 21, 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 May 18, Belarusian police captain A. Fiyaz (A. Фиязь) fired at a Lithuanian post in Šalčininkai
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 May 19. Žagunis was given a public funeral in the Antakalnis Cemetery
. The same night two other posts were burned down. On May 23, OMON troops from Riga assaulted border posts on the Lithuanian–Latvia
n border in Vegeriai, Mažeikiai
, Germaniškis, Saločiai, Smėlynė. Five Latvian posts were also attacked. The attack on Smėlynė was filmed by Alexander Nevzorov
and later shown on Leningrad TV.
Following these attacks Lithuanian Prime Minister
Gediminas Vagnorius
officially complained to Boris Pugo, 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 May 24 and 25 five more posts were assaulted. Lithuania appealed to western countries asking to protest 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 June 28, Moscow took the first concrete action to discipline OMON – its leaders were called to explain themselves and were reassigned.
on July 31, 1991. It is thought that the attack took place around 4 am 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 August 2 in hospital. The only survivor, customs officer Tomas Šernas
, 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
. The victims were awarded the Cross of Vytis (September 6, 1991) and the Medal of the 13th of January (January 9, 1992).
The incident occurred during 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
, newly elected President of Russian SFSR
. 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.
was attacked on August 22, 1991. After the coup failed, the Soviet Union disintegrated. Members of OMON dispersed throughout the former union, many of them becoming citizens of Russia. The Lithuanian government attempts to investigate the attacks and prosecute the suspects, but the efforts are hindered by complex extradition
requests. Already 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.
In December 2006, the Lithuanian prosecutors issued the European Arrest Warrant
for arrest of Latvian citizen Konstantin Nikulin, a suspect in the Medininkai killings. He was arrested by Latvian police on November 28, 2007. In 2004, Nikulin was tried and received 2.5 years of suspended sentence for his involvement in the January 1991 events in Latvia
. After the trial Nikulin became a key witness an unrelated murder and changed his surname to Mikhailov as part of a witness protection program. On January 28, 2008, the Supreme Court of Latvia decided to extradite Mikhailov to Lithuania. In Lithuania he was jailed in the Lukiškės Prison
awaiting the 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 May 11, 2011, Nikulin was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment; Nikulin vowed to appeal the decision.
Other suspects in the case, namely commander Czeslaw Mlynnik, Alexander Ryzhov (Aleksandras Ryžovas), and Andrei Laktionov (Andrejus Laktionovas), are citizens of Russia and have not been extradited. In 2009, Ryzhov was tried for armed robbery in Saint Petersburg
. Lithuanian requests for extradition were denied. Another suspect, Igor Gorban, was identified by the only survivor Tomas Šernas
during Gorban's 2004 trial in Riga. However, Gorban was not charged due to lack of evidence.
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
declared its independence from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
on March 11, 1990. As a Soviet republic, the Lithuanian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
did not have a state border with customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
or checkpoint
Border checkpoint
A border checkpoint is a place, generally between two countries, where travellers and/or goods are inspected. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders often have a limited number of checkpoints where they can be crossed without legal...
s. The newly declared Republic of Lithuania began establishing the State Border Guard Service
State Border Guard Service (Lithuania)
The State Border Guard Service is the organisation charged with controlling and maintaining the Lithuanian Border. The State Border Guard Service falls under authority of the Ministry of the Interior, which supervises and controls the implementation of border guard policy.-1918-1940:Following the...
, which also became a symbol of its strive for independence. The Soviet government viewed the customs posts as illegal and sent the OMON
OMON
OMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
(Special Purpose Police Unit) troops against the posts, especially those along the eastern border with Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. The unarmed, custom officers and policemen were harassed, 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 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 December 17, 1990 in EišiškėsEišiškes
Eišiškės ) is a city in southeastern Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is situated on a small group of hills, surrounded by marshy valley of Verseka and Dumblė Rivers. Rivers divide the town into two parts; the northern part is called Jurzdika. As of January 2008, Eišiškės had a population...
. Shift leader Petras Pumputis was beaten, lost consciousness, and was taken to a hospital with cerebral hemorrhage. The first organized attacks were organized following the events of January 11–13, 1991 in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
when 14 civilians were killed near the Vilnius TV Tower
Vilnius TV Tower
The Vilnius TV Tower is a tower in the Karoliniškės microdistrict of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the tallest structure in Lithuania, and is occupied by the SC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre ....
. Soviet troops attacked and burned border posts in Medininkai and Lavoriškės on January 27. On March 21, 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 May 18, Belarusian police captain A. Fiyaz (A. Фиязь) fired at a Lithuanian post in Šalčininkai
Šalcininkai
Šalčininkai is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus.Šalčininkai received its city rights in 1956 and is now a capital of the Šalčininkai district municipality. Šalčininkai features a multi-ethnic population of Poles , Lithuanians ,...
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
Krakūnai
Krakūnai is a village in Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is an old village, mentioned as early as 1433 when Jonas Goštautas received Dieveniškės and 26 surrounding villages from Grand Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis. The village had 302 residents in 1931, 283 in 1959, 249 in 1970, and 215 in...
and was killed on May 19. Žagunis was given a public funeral in the Antakalnis Cemetery
Antakalnis Cemetery
Antakalnis Cemetery , sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is the cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius in Lithuania. It was established in 1809....
. The same night two other posts were burned down. On May 23, OMON troops from Riga assaulted border posts on the Lithuanian–Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n border in Vegeriai, Mažeikiai
Mažeikiai
Mažeikiai is a city in the north-western Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 45,300, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania. The city is the administrative center of Mažeikiai district municipality in Telšiai County. It is the largest city that does not have its...
, Germaniškis, Saločiai, Smėlynė. Five Latvian posts were also attacked. The attack on Smėlynė was filmed by Alexander Nevzorov
Alexander Nevzorov
Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov is a former Russian and Soviet TV journalist, a film director and a former member of the Russian parliament. He is the founder of the horsemanship school, Nevzorov Haute Ecole.- Biography :...
and later shown on Leningrad TV.
Following these attacks Lithuanian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Lithuania
The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of the executive arm of Lithuania's government, and is chosen by the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas. The modern office of Prime Minister was established in 1990, although the official title was "Chairperson of the Council of Ministers" until 25...
Gediminas Vagnorius
Gediminas Vagnorius
Gediminas Vagnorius 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 between 1991 and 1992, and again from 1996 until 1999....
officially complained to Boris Pugo, 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
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
disclaimed any knowledge of the attacks and ordered Pugo to investigate. However, on May 24 and 25 five more posts were assaulted. Lithuania appealed to western countries asking to protest 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 June 28, Moscow took the first concrete action 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 on the Vilnius–Minsk highwayA3 highway (Lithuania)
The A3 highway is a highway in Lithuania . It runs from Vilnius to the Belarus border, reaching Minsk. The length of the road is ....
on July 31, 1991. It is thought that the attack took place around 4 am 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 August 2 in hospital. The only survivor, customs officer Tomas Šernas
Tomas Šernas
Tomas Šernas was a Lithuanian customs officer and the only survivor of the Medininkai Massacre on July 31, 1991. He survived the point-blank shot to his head, but became disabled...
, 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
Antakalnis Cemetery , sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is the cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius in Lithuania. It was established in 1809....
. The victims were awarded the Cross of Vytis (September 6, 1991) and the Medal of the 13th of January (January 9, 1992).
The incident occurred during President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George H. W. Bush's
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
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
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
. The attack might have been a response to a treaty between Lithuania and Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, newly elected President of Russian SFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. 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. Only during the August Coup in Moscow, the post in KybartaiKybartai
Kybartai is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia....
was attacked on August 22, 1991. After the coup failed, the Soviet Union disintegrated. Members of OMON dispersed throughout the former union, many of them becoming citizens of Russia. The Lithuanian government attempts to investigate the attacks and prosecute the suspects, but the efforts are hindered by complex extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
requests. Already 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.
In December 2006, the Lithuanian prosecutors issued the European Arrest Warrant
European Arrest Warrant
The European Arrest Warrant is an arrest warrant valid throughout all member states of the European Union . Once issued by a member state, it requires the receiving member state to arrest and transfer a criminal suspect or sentenced person to the issuing state so that the person can be put on...
for arrest of Latvian citizen Konstantin Nikulin, a suspect in the Medininkai killings. He was arrested by Latvian police on November 28, 2007. In 2004, Nikulin was tried and received 2.5 years of suspended sentence for his involvement in the January 1991 events in Latvia
January 1991 events in Latvia
The Barricades were events that took place between 13 and 27 January 1991 in Latvia. Latvia, which had declared independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that Soviet Union might attempt to violently regain control over the country....
. After the trial Nikulin became a key witness an unrelated murder and changed his surname to Mikhailov as part of a witness protection program. On January 28, 2008, the Supreme Court of Latvia decided to extradite Mikhailov to Lithuania. In Lithuania he was jailed in the Lukiškės Prison
Lukiškes Prison
Lukiškės Prison is a prison in the center of Vilnius, Lithuania, near the Lukiškės Square. As of 2007, it houses approximately 1,000 prisoners and employs around 250 prison guards...
awaiting the trial. The case has some 220 witnesses and volumes of written material. The statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
for murder is 20 years; thus the expiration date would be July 2011. On May 11, 2011, Nikulin was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment; Nikulin vowed to appeal the decision.
Other suspects in the case, namely commander Czeslaw Mlynnik, Alexander Ryzhov (Aleksandras Ryžovas), and Andrei Laktionov (Andrejus Laktionovas), are citizens of Russia and have not been extradited. In 2009, Ryzhov was tried for armed robbery in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. Lithuanian requests for extradition were denied. Another suspect, Igor Gorban, was identified by the only survivor Tomas Šernas
Tomas Šernas
Tomas Šernas was a Lithuanian customs officer and the only survivor of the Medininkai Massacre on July 31, 1991. He survived the point-blank shot to his head, but became disabled...
during Gorban's 2004 trial in Riga. However, Gorban was not charged due to lack of evidence.