Lithuania marks 35th anniversary of first border guard killed after independence

Ceremonies will be held in Vilnius and Šalčininkai district on Tuesday to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the death of Gintaras Žagunis, the first Lithuanian border guard killed in the line of duty after the country regained independence, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) announced.

A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at Žagunis’s grave in Vilnius’s Antakalnis Cemetery, followed by a memorial Mass at Dieveniškės Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary. The main commemoration will be held at the site of his death in Krakūnai village, Šalčininkai district, near the Belarus border, where a monument to the fallen guard stands.

Flowers will be laid, Žagunis’s service will be honoured, and outstanding VSAT officers and personnel will be awarded. A 6.5-kilometre memorial run, starting from the Dieveniškės border checkpoint named after Žagunis, will conclude at the monument. A VSAT helicopter crew patrolling the Belarus border is expected to salute participants from the air.

On Saturday, May 23, a traditional foot march organised by VSAT and the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union will also take place in the area.

Žagunis, then a 33-year-old shift supervisor at the Dieveniškės patrol service, was fatally shot on May 19, 1991, by armed attackers who crossed into Lithuania from Belarus. He was the first border guard killed after Lithuania restored independence in 1990. In his memory, VSAT named its Poškoniai checkpoint after him and installed a commemorative plaque, later relocated to a new VSAT building in Dieveniškės in 2022.