DISINFO: Lithuania is fighting against the monuments of the Soviet army and re-writing history of WWII
SUMMARY
Lithuania is fighting against the monuments of the Soviet army. The country trying to misrepresent the results of WWII and labelling Soviet soldiers-liberators as ‘occupants’. Vilnius prohibited the repair and restoration of monuments in the places where Soviet soldiers are buried.
The dismantling of Soviet monuments in Lithuania is part of the historical revisionism campaign. The authorities of the Baltic States and Poland are trying to clean up the space of information and present to society new conceptions, change the history of World War II.
RESPONSE
This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism.
Lithuania is not disputing the victory of Russia against Nazi Germany. However the end of WWII was not a liberation for Lithuania. The country was occupied together with the other Baltic States in the summer of 1940 by the Soviet Union. Modern Lithuania restored full independence only after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The accusation of the fight against Soviet monuments is recurs often in pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It was against Estonia in 2007 in the context of the replacement of the so-called Bronze Soldier from the centre of Tallinn to a Military cemetery as well as in the case of the removal of the statue of Marshal Konev in Prague in 2020. Lithuania is not destroying Soviet monuments nor prohibiting the restoration of Soviet soldiers' graves. Amends to the rules on how third countries should look after monuments of their own heritage in the territory of Lithuania entered into force in 2018.
See other examples of Russian historical revisionism concerning this issue such as the Poland and Lithuania question the status of Russia as country who won WWII, Latvia rewriting World War II history, Konev’s monument in Prague was removed with the aim to insult Russia.