In Lithuania, at the end of this week, the 27th anniversary of the Defenders of Freedom Day is being celebrated.
January 13th is celebrated in Lithuania as Defenders of Freedom Day, in honor of those who died on January 1991th, 13 during the actions of the Soviet army in Vilnius.
On the eve of this day, on Friday, for the eleventh time, an action will be held, during which people and organizations are invited to turn off the lights at 8 o'clock in the morning and light candles in the windows for ten minutes.
At that time, the students of Aleksander Stulginskis University will place 14 empty chairs surrounded by barbed wire near the TV tower, symbolizing the Lithuanians who died on the night of January 13.
The Seimas there will be a ceremonial line-up of the Defenders of Freedom, after which they will meet in the March 11 Act Hall.
On Friday evening, the Hour of Movement will also take place, and St. John's Church - concert In memoriam. Commemorative bonfires will be lit in Independence Square, near the TV tower and next to the Lithuanian National Radio and Television building.
A flower-laying ceremony will be held at the Žinia monument on March 11 on Saturday. Later, a high-level commemoration of Defenders of Freedom Day will be held in the Seimas, during which dissident Nijole Sadūnaite will be awarded the Freedom Prize. After these events, a flag-raising ceremony will take place in Independence Square.
The memorial ceremony for the dead will take place in Antakalnis cemetery. In the evening, in the Vilnius Archcathedral Basilica, St. Mass.
In January 1991, the Soviets tried to overthrow the legitimate government of Lithuania, which declared the country's independence from the USSR on March 1990, 11, by military force.
On the night of January 13, 14 people were killed when Soviet military units stormed the Vilnius TV tower and the building of the Radio and Television Committee. More than a thousand defenseless people were injured.
Although the Soviet soldiers managed to occupy the Television Tower and the Lithuanian Radio and Television building, they did not dare to attack the building of the then Supreme Council-Restorative Seimas, guarded by thousands of people.
