Early Attacks
The first incident occurred on December 17, 1990 in Eišiškės. 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–Latvian 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.
Read more about this topic: Soviet OMON Assaults On Lithuanian Border Posts
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