Freedom Day

The beginning of the withdrawal of the army of the former
Soviet Union from the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
Lithuanian children holding tricolours watch the military column leave.
Zarasai District, 3 March 1992. Photo by Romualdas Jurgaitis

The history of the statehood of Lithuania in the 20^th century is dotted with different signs of upturns and downturns. Declared on 16 February 1918, the independence of Lithuania was safeguarded by volunteer soldiers, and the statehood of the country was established in the period from 1918 to 1940. On 15 June 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; in 1941–1944 the Soviet occupation was followed by German occupation; and from 1944 onwards the Soviet army was established in Lithuania for almost 50 years. That was the onset of the Sovietisation of Lithuania.

On 11 March 1990, the democratically elected Supreme Council of Lithuania restored Lithuania’s independence. The most important political tasks of the restored state were strengthening statehood and establishing of Lithuania’s independence on the international stage, which was hardly possible with the army of another state present in the territory of our country. The withdrawal of the army of occupation would have meant that Lithuania had full control of its territory, and full control of the territory of the state is an integral element of sovereignty of the state.

The withdrawal of the army of occupation was inseparable from difficult diplomatic, political, social, technical and logistical circumstances. The Lithuanian government had to address these issues in 1990–1993. The strong opinion of citizens and their support for the fastest possible withdrawal of the army were also crucial. The signatures of Lithuanian citizens were collected at the time of the Lithuanian reform movement Sąjūdis, and the results of the referendum of 14 June 1992 were the clearest testimony to the public opinion.

In 1990–1991, the Soviet Union, being in the throes of collapse at that time, did not put serious efforts into negotiating the conditions for the recognition of the state of Lithuania and the presence of the army of occupation in Lithuania. Soviet military authorities persecuted, detained and used violence against Lithuanian citizens who were at the age of conscription and had refused to serve in the foreign army or deserted it. From January 1991 to the putsch of August 1991, the Soviets carried out aggressive attacks against the state of Lithuania and its citizens.

Only the failure of the 1991 putsch and the victory of democratic forces led by Russian President Boris Yeltsin made it possible to initiate further negotiations that resulted in the planned withdrawal of the Russian army from Lithuania. The first meeting between the national delegations of negotiators took place in Vilnius on 31 January 1992 (the Lithuanian national delegation was led by Česlovas Vytautas Stankevičius, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas). A timetable for the withdrawal of the armed forces of the Russian Federation from the territory of Lithuania, with the deadline for the final withdrawal of the army being 31 August 1993, was signed six months later, on 8 September 1992. Later problems related to non-compliance with the timetable for the withdrawal of the Russian army and the suspension of the withdrawal, which was announced on several occasions, did not change the deadlines that had been set. The last military train returning to the East arrived at the railway station in Kena on 31 August 1993 at 23.45 and left the territory of Lithuania without stopping. The withdrawal of the Russian army from Lithuania was a major political breakthrough for the restored state. The army of occupation withdrew from Lithuania in 1993, one year earlier than it did from Germany and some other European countries. This achievement crowned the efforts of the state of Lithuania as a whole.