Lithuania to mark 35th anniversary of last victim of Soviet occupation

VILNIUS - Lithuania will on Friday mark the 35th anniversary of the death of Arturas Sakalauskas, a volunteer soldier who was the last person killed during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.

A mass will be held in Alytus in the morning, followed by musical performances in memory of the volunteer soldier.

Sakalauskas will be honoured during a ceremony at the site of his death near the Seimas. The event will be attended by Speaker of the Seimas Juozas Olekas, relatives of the deceased, signatories of the Act of Independence, the leadership of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Ministry of National Defence, and defenders of Lithuanian freedom. Sakalauskas will be remembered with a minute of silence and ceremonial volleys.

A football tournament named after Sakalauskas will be held at the Alytus Dainava Pro-Gymnasium stadium in one week's time.

Sakalauskas joined the National Defence Volunteer Service in January 1991 at the age of 27 and was an active participant in the resistance against Soviet aggression. On August 21, 1991, during the collapse of the coup in Moscow, a clash broke out between Lithuanian volunteers and Soviet special forces units near the Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas building. Sakalauskas was killed during the confrontation, while two other volunteers from the Alytus unit were wounded.

Posthumously, Sakalauskas was awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis, First Class, as well as the January 13th Commemorative Medal and the Medal of the Founding Volunteers of the Lithuanian Army.