Elektrėnai municipality rejects Moscow’s accusations of desecrating Soviet soldiers’ graves but proceeds with reburials

The municipality of Elektrėnai has dismissed Russian accusations that it is desecrating the graves of Soviet soldiers, stating that it is instead preparing to relocate more than a hundred remains buried after World War II to a more dignified site, LRT reports.

Mayor Gediminas Ratkevičius told BNS on Tuesday that the current location—where public festivals, dancing, and singing take place—is “unfit” for a military burial ground. “The goal is to move the soldiers’ remains to a place of honour, because this site is inappropriate,” he said.

The reburial follows Moscow’s formal protest to Lithuania’s chargé d’affaires in Russia, Jolanta Tubaitė, over what it called “barbaric plans” to eliminate a Soviet soldiers’ cemetery in Vievis. Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed the site holds troops “who died liberating Lithuania from fascists” and warned that destroying graves, including those abroad, constitutes a crime under Russian law.

Ratkevičius confirmed that all permits and council approvals for the relocation are in place, with work set to begin “very soon.” The remains will be moved several hundred metres away to a designated section of Vievis municipal cemetery. While records list 111 soldiers buried at the site, he noted the actual number may differ once exhumations begin.

“In the best case, this will be completed this year, but archaeological surveys and unforeseen circumstances could extend the process,” the mayor added, calling Moscow’s stance “unfounded.”

Russia’s protest comes after Lithuania’s exhumation in April of Russian soldiers’ remains in Šiauliai, which also drew condemnation. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Lithuanian authorities have previously stated that Soviet-era burial sites in public spaces must be relocated to comply with laws prohibiting the glorification of totalitarian regimes.