Lithuania marks Jan 13 anniversary and honors freedom defenders

Candles were lit at schools, institutions and organizations across Lithuania at 8 a.m., symbolizing the memory, unity and victory against the Soviet aggressor.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda lit candles with students from Vilnius Rytas Progymnasium.

The Seimas of Lithuania will hold a solemn sitting on this occasion and the annual Freedom Prize will be bestowed upon Albinas Kentra-Ausra, a partisan, chronicler of the Lithuanian Atgimimas (Revival) movement.

The memory of those killed will be also honored at Antakalnis Cemetery in the afternoon.

Fourteen civilians were killed and hundreds more were wounded when the Soviet troops stormed the TV Tower and the Radio and Television Committee building in Vilnius in the early hours of Jan. 13, 1991.

The Soviet Union used military force to overthrow the legitimate government of Lithuania, which declared independence on March 11, 1990.

In late March, Vilnius Regional Court sentenced former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov and over 60 other former Soviet officials and military officers guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, issuing prison sentences ranging from four to 14 years in absentia.