EU state confirms citizens fighting for Russia
Multiple Lithuanian citizens are fighting in the Ukraine conflict on Russia’s side, Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas has stated. He went on to accuse them of crimes against the state.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kasciunas said that a Lithuanian citizen who was discovered last month to be fighting in the Russian military is “certainly not alone.” There is “more than one” Lithuanian in Moscow’s ranks, he said, without offering a precise number.
“This is an action against the state of Lithuania,” he continued, adding that those fighting for Russia are known to the Lithuanian authorities and could face prosecution.
Last month, Lithuanian media reported that a man from the city of Jurbarkas had posted videos of himself in a Russian military uniform online. In the clips, the man shouted “Glory to Russia, greetings to [US President Joe] Biden,” before firing an automatic grenade launcher at an unknown target. The videos were reportedly filmed somewhere in the zone of Russia’s special military operation.
Kasciunas confirmed at the time that the videos were genuine, but said that he couldn’t “go into details” about whether there were any additional Lithuanians serving in the Russian military.
Lithuanians can be stripped of their citizenship if they are found guilty of serving in another country’s military without permission from the government. According to Lithuanian news site LRT, the country’s Migration Department is considering taking this step against the man from Jurbarkas.
Lithuania has pursued a number of hardline anti-Russia policies since the Ukraine conflict began. In addition to handing over more than 1.5% of the country’s GDP in military and other aid to Ukraine, the government in Vilnius has demanded that the EU and NATO turn over more weapons and ammunition from their own stocks.
The authorities in the Baltic republic have also ordered the demolition of Soviet war memorials and the exhumation of Soviet soldiers’ graves, while several Russian-born celebrities living in Lithuania have had their citizenship revoked over supposed links to the conflict. In one case earlier this year, ballerina Ilze Liepa was stripped of her citizenship for condemning the destruction of Soviet WWII monuments in the Baltic states.
By the end of 2022, “dozens” of Lithuanian mercenaries were fighting in the Ukrainian military, according to LRT. As of this March, 13,387 foreign mercenaries had traveled to Ukraine to fight for Kiev, according Russian Defense Ministry data. Some 5,962 of them were killed by Russian forces, the ministry stated.
