Seimas condemns destruction of Lithuanian heritage in Russia

VILNIUS - Lithuania’s parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning the destruction of Lithuanian historical heritage in Russia and urging the Foreign Ministry to take action to defend it.

According to the parliament, Lithuanian schools have been closed, museum names changed, and commemorative plaques and monuments related to Lithuanian culture and historical memory removed in Russia in recent years. Cited cases include the Kristijonas Donelaitis Museum in Tolminkiemis, memorials to Vilhelmas Storosta-Vydunas in Tilsit, and monuments in Tomsk.

“Over the past year, many Lithuanian communities abroad have contacted us reporting the destruction of historical and cultural heritage. The final straw was the actions in Tomsk,” said Remigijus Motuzas, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who presented the resolution.

Motuzas noted that since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 300 historical monuments from various countries have been destroyed in Russia, which is viewed as a deliberate policy of rewriting history and denying Soviet crimes.

“Signs inside Russia show that society has become fascist to the extreme; there is no opposition inside Russia, as evidenced by the lack of demonstrations when the headstones of innocent people are being destroyed,” said conservative Emanuelis Zingeris.

The adopted document expresses a formal protest against these actions and demands the restoration of monuments and symbols in Tomsk, the Kaliningrad region and other Russian territories.

The Foreign Ministry is urged to take specific steps to defend historical truth and the freedom of memory, and is requested to appeal to the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and other international organisations.

The parliament also said such actions violate international law, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

The document was adopted unanimously.