May 9th at the Antakalnis cemetery: Russian music plays, people gather

In the place where there used to be a monument to Soviet soldiers (it has been taken down), red and white candles are laid out, flower arrangements, wreaths, photos of the dead are placed.

“It’s a celebration here,” – briefly, when asked about the purpose of the visit, Delphi replied the grave visitor.

Another visitor to the graves – Valery – said that he came to remember the dead.

“My grandfather fought fascism. Here’s honoring the dead who died for people’s freedom – not necessarily mine or yours. We all know. Anyway, they fought fascism. Well, it’s a victory,” Delphi said Valery.

He said that Russia was a completely different country in those days, and he does not compare the current situation there.

“It was a completely different country, different people. Comparing today’s Russia… This is not the Soviet Union, completely different countries, a different war… Of course, this is a huge horror, but it is a completely different thing. I think that people come here to remember those people who died then,” said Valerijus.

He also said that his heart aches for Ukraine.

“I am against war. To say unequivocally whether you are for Putin or Zelensky is very primitive, because you need to know the reasons why one or the other behaves this way.

Why did people elect Zelenskyi – Zelenskyi promised that the war in Donbas would end, and who left? It is very difficult to say unequivocally here, but that I am against the war, that is 100%. There are probably no people who are in favor of the war – people are killed on both sides, it’s a nightmare, a horror,” the man emphasized.

Valery agreed that Russia attacked Ukraine.

“Geopolitical wars, money, and we don’t really know the mechanisms why everything started and who wants to achieve what,” said the grave visitor.

He regretted the government’s decision to limit the teaching of the Russian language in schools.

“The state must be united, but it turns out that way, it divides people and makes people angry. This makes it difficult for people to visit Belarus. If everything is so bad there, let someone go and see what’s so bad there,” said Valerijus.

A 35-year-old woman who visited the cemetery with her family and small children shared that she was celebrating the victory.

“It’s like a holiday here, every year, it’s more like some kind of tradition. War is bad, I’m not for one side or the other, war is bad,” Veronika said.

“I don’t like it here, there is no monument, there is no place to put flowers. Not good, here is our memory, our history, we need to respect people, they died for us. Politics is irrelevant here, people were freed from fascism here. Fascism is even worse than occupation. You don’t know, but my grandmother, my mother knows how they lived, what the occupation really is. And this is not an occupation, this is a game,” Margarita, another visitor to the cemetery, commented to the media.

“I am extremely ashamed. They will not kill our memory in any way. My uncle is Lithuanian, they met during the war as in a movie and got married during the war. This is where he is buried and I come to him. Because he fought and died. It’s a shame for such a government, if they plant, let them plant,” said another visitor, Liudmila.

Another visitor was also dissatisfied with the fact that there is no longer a monument to Soviet soldiers in the Antakalnis cemetery.

“It looks bad. It is celebrated in Europe, in France the 9th day is declared as a day off, people come to remember, in Warsaw, elsewhere everyone comes. In Lithuania – how many people were killed in Lithuania. You know, we need to tell young people, we don’t know history at all in Lithuania. My family was under occupation, the land was abolished, given to collective farmers – all that was, it’s the past,” she said.

The woman said that “Vilnius could have been like Warsaw.”

“Many people will come, not only you will come with your opinion, but others will also come,” Ieva asserted.

When Yuri came to the cemetery, he brought things and said that he would put on a show. Police officers talked to him.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s not a bomb. It’s okay, please don’t mess with me,” he said.

The representative of the police department, Revita Janavičiūtė, told “Delfi” a few days ago that in order to avoid provocations and prevent possible cases of vandalism, the police officers of the country’s police will carry out increased patrols near the soldiers’ cemeteries.

Supervision of public order will be strengthened in public spaces. Monuments, squares, bridges and other objects, the situation regarding the display of prohibited symbols will be additionally monitored.

In Vilnius, despite the fact that monuments to Soviet soldiers have been toppled, visitors usually go to the Antakalnis cemetery with flowers on that day. Carrying flowers is not prohibited, but the police will be more vigilant in order to ensure public order and seriousness.

“Every year Vilnius district VPK police officers are working at the Antakalnis cemetery on May 9, ensuring public order and seriousness. This year is no exception. The police forces (both uniformed and non-uniformed officers) will patrol and record possible violations, monitor the participants who have arrived to avoid possible provocations, and prevent administrative offenses due to the display of prohibited symbols,” said a police spokeswoman.

No requests to hold gatherings on this day were received in any of the three major cities

In Klaipėda, the place where people brought flowers and gathered on May 9 was usually the Sculpture Park. A few years ago, Soviet monuments were also dismantled there.

“There will be officers on duty, like every day, who will also pass by that day and check those places where people could possibly vote on May 9. Offering flowers or meeting is definitely not prohibited, it is important that those meetings are peaceful and do not violate public order,” said Andromeda Grauslienė, the representative of the Chief Police Commissariat of Klaipėda County.

The State Security Department (VSD) warned that provocations cannot be ruled out as May 9 approaches

“Recently, entities related to the Kremlin regime have been actively conducting psychological-informational operations against Lithuania and other Baltic states, which include kinetic actions, when violations of various types of legal acts are purposefully committed.

The Department of State Security (VSD) draws attention to the fact that these operations are characterized by aggressiveness in order to influence the public, intimidate them, cause panic and disrupt the work of state institutions,” according to a statement published by the State Security Department on Facebook.

Lithuanian intelligence points out that information-psychological attack campaigns are usually based on events that are current in the attacked countries at the time, and socially important topics and significant historical dates are used to create narratives.

“Monuments dedicated to anti-Soviet resistance last year in the Baltic States were purposefully desecrated on May 9. on the eve of the so-called “Victory Day” in Russia. According to intelligence, in the near future, the probability of similar attacks or provocations against various objects in Lithuania remains high,” the post states.

VSD once again draws attention to the fact that hostile services seek to recruit residents of Lithuania and other Baltic countries in various ways, whom they could later use to carry out such provocations or attacks. More and more often, social networks are used for this, where advertisements constantly appear announcing that people are looking for people who agree to spy for a certain fee, for example, to photograph infrastructure of strategic importance or military objects and collect data about individuals, to carry out acts of sabotage or vandalism.

If you see advertisements on social networks that offer financial rewards for vandalism and violations of other legal acts in Lithuania, we urge you to immediately report it to the VSD.