Prime minister says Lithuania will never forget independence heroes

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said Lithuania would never forget those who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence, LRT reported. He made the remarks as Lithuania marked the 35th anniversary of the death of volunteer soldier and Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas defender Artūras Sakalauskas.

Sakalauskas was killed on August 21, 1991, while defending Lithuania’s parliament alongside fellow volunteers during an attack by the occupying army, Sinkevičius said in a statement.

“We will never forget the heroes who sacrificed their lives for Lithuania’s independence and left us, as if in a testament, the duty to defend our homeland,” the prime minister was quoted as saying.

Sinkevičius said the sacrifice served as a reminder that freedom was not a gift of fate and had to be cherished and protected by every possible means.

“We live next to an unhappy and angry neighbour that has not only started a terrible war in Ukraine but continues to direct flashes of anger at all people who love freedom,” he said. “This is our sacred duty and a responsibility that will remain with us forever.”

On the evening of August 21, 1991, as a military coup in Moscow was collapsing, Lithuanian volunteers clashed with soldiers from a Soviet special-purpose army unit near the parliament buildings. The soldiers drove into the territory guarded by parliament defenders near the first checkpoint on A. Goštauto Street, and Sakalauskas was shot during the ensuing resistance.

He became the last person killed in the 20th century in sacrifice for Lithuania’s independence. Born in Alytus on October 26, 1963, Sakalauskas joined the volunteer force being formed in Alytus after the Soviet Union’s January 13, 1991 aggression against Lithuania. On August 19 that year, he and other volunteers from the Alytus unit travelled to Vilnius to guard the parliament buildings.