Four Soviet soldiers’ remains exhumed in Šiauliai city centre

Archaeologists have exhumed the remains of four Soviet soldiers buried near St. Apostles Peter and Paul Cathedral in Šiauliai, as part of a relocation effort ordered by Lithuania’s Desovietisation Commission, LRT reports.

The exhumation is being carried out by the small partnership Arksaika, led by archaeologist Rokas Kraniauskas. “We are currently uncovering the archaeological plots,” Kraniauskas told BNS on Tuesday. “Tomorrow, we may finish exposing the entire area down to the burial level and proceed with exhuming the graves. We’ve already removed four remains and are now uncovering the fifth and sixth.”

According to Kraniauskas, one row of graves remains to be exposed. “There are four rows in total, plus four separate graves. Two rows are fully uncovered, two are half-exposed, and the ends of two more rows still need to be uncovered. These are simple individual burials in coffins, so the work is straightforward—no mass or mixed graves,” he noted.

Once a skeleton is uncovered, archaeologists document the remains with photographs, describe the grave, collect any artefacts, and transport them in special bags to a storage site for anthropological analysis. “Anthropologists will examine each bone, determine sex, approximate age, pathologies, possible illnesses, and bone trauma,” Kraniauskas explained.

He added that the team has already observed trauma on the remains—likely from explosion-related fractures. The first exhumed soldier was identified as a Soviet Hero, with clear evidence of severe injuries as the cause of death. Among the few artefacts recovered were fragments of Soviet military uniforms and well-preserved general’s shoulder boards.

Kraniauskas estimates the exhumation of all remains could be completed by the end of April, as previously announced. “I’d say about 10 percent of the graves have already been exhumed,” he said. Records indicate 53 soldiers, killed during World War II, are buried near the cathedral, though the exact number to be exhumed may vary slightly.

The Desovietisation Commission ruled in summer 2024 that the burial site violated Lithuania’s ban on promoting totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in public spaces. The commission argued that the site perpetuates the Soviet-propagated myth of the “Great Patriotic War,” as the remains were reburied there after being relocated from original gravesites in the surrounding area.

Šiauliai municipality had planned to relocate the remains last year, but the Cultural Heritage Department recommended postponing the exhumation until warmer weather. The remains will be reburied at the Soviet World War II soldiers’ section of Ginkūnų Cemetery. Lithuania’s ban on displaying symbols of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in public spaces took effect in May 2023.