„The Republic of Lithuania has not received any requests from the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, or the close relatives of Soviet soldiers buried in Šiauliai regarding the repatriation of remains,“ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) stated in a comment provided to BNS this week.
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According to it, the return of soldiers’ remains is regulated by the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the protection of war victims. These international obligations stipulate that the return is carried out based on mutual agreement between the parties.
The mayor of Šiauliai, Artūras Visockas, told BNS that he also has no data on either official or unofficial requests to return the remains.
„This is the first time I hear about it, we have not officially received anything,“ the city leader said this week.
„We have a plan to re-bury them in special military cemeteries here locally, where many soldiers have already been reburied. That is the first and clear answer – no,“ added A. Visockas when asked if the city would consider such a request if it were received.
„Although you can’t say there is no logic, because we also want to bring back certain remains from individual countries, but we do not always manage to,“ said the mayor of Šiauliai.
He and the ministry commented this after the authoritarian Belarusian president Aliaksandr Lukashenko called at the May 9th commemoration in Minsk to bring home the remains of Soviet soldiers.
Quoted by the state news agency „Belta“, A. Lukashenko named „revanchists“, „Banderites“ and „forest brothers“ in his speech, as well as those who exhume Soviet soldiers’ remains in Šiauliai and „call the feat of the Soviet people a myth“.
These statements were noted by Belarusian opposition figure Pavel Latushka in an interview with BNS, who raised the question of how A. Lukashenko plans to take the remains.
As BNS wrote, based on the conclusions of the Desovietization Commission, in April 49 Soviet soldiers’ remains were exhumed, which were buried in the center of Šiauliai, near the Cathedral of St. Apostles Peter and Paul.
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Anthropological studies are currently being conducted to clarify the number of buried, determine their sex, approximate age, pathologies, and injuries. After the studies, the remains will be reburied near the burial site of Soviet soldiers of World War II located next to the Ginkūnai Cemetery.
„Anthropological studies are now being carried out and in about a month we should have the first results on how everything looks there. If all goes well, reburial will begin,“ Mantas Antanavičius, a specialist from the City Development and Heritage Protection Department of the municipality, told BNS.
The head of the company that performed the exhumation and archaeological research, Rokas Kraniauskas, previously indicated that Soviet uniform epaulettes of various ranks, buttons, leather belts, shoes, coins, and a pouch with decayed carbine cartridges were found with the remains.
Plans to announce a tender for square renovation
According to M. Antanavičius, efforts are being made to start the contracting works for the renovation of the square where the soldiers were buried as soon as possible.
„The technical project is under review, after the review a building permit will be issued and then we will proceed to select a contractor. (…) It would be perfect if we could have a contractor within a month and a half,“ said the municipal administration representative.
According to him, the estimated value of the contracting works is more than 150 thousand euros.
According to the restoration project by architect Vytenis Rudokas, a pedestrian path will be arranged at the soldiers’ burial site, with a space created next to it with benches, opening a view to the cathedral. The area is planned to be planted with shrubs, flowers, and Japanese rowans.
The remains of Soviet soldiers from the center of Šiauliai are being relocated after the Desovietization Commission recognized in the summer of 2024 that the burial site near the cathedral violates the ban on promoting totalitarian, authoritarian regimes and their ideologies in public objects.
According to the commission, this burial site is a place of consolidation and dissemination of the myth of the Great Patriotic War promoted by the Soviet Union and now by Russia, as the burials are secondary, having been moved from primary burial sites in the surroundings.
The ban on promoting totalitarian, authoritarian regimes and their ideologies came into force in the country in May 2023. According to it, symbols of totalitarianism and authoritarianism – monuments, names of streets, squares, and other public objects, and other symbols – must be removed from public spaces.
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