Vilnius city municipalities The council decided to commemorate the memory of Jadvyga Bieliauskienė a participant in the resistance to the Soviet occupation and a political prisoner A commemorative plaque will be designed and installed at the municipal expense on the building at Antakalnio St Jadvyga Bieliauskienė (1929–2009) was a prominent Lithuanian dissident and national dignity during the Soviet occupation she became involved in the anti-Soviet underground at a young age distributing partisan literature and participating in the resistance movement she was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison in the Inta camps she continued her resistance - actively collaborated with the "Chronicle of the Lithuanian Catholic Church" and collected signatures for an end to the persecution of believers she was arrested again and imprisoned for four years in Mordovia where she continued to spread the word about human rights violations in the USSR.  Bieliauskienė distributed the press of the Lithuanian Reform Movement in 1988 together with others she founded the Political Prisoners and Exiles Care Group in 1991 – the January Thirteenth Brotherhood she was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis the January Thirteenth Commemoration Medal reproduction and distribution are permitted only with the written consent of UAB "Naujosios medijos grupė" six sculptures of Soviet soldiers were removed from the cemetery and the Vilnius City Council decided to hand them over to Grūtas Park of Soviet monuments in southern Lithuania for display for at least 20 years the council approved the proposal of the Historical Memory Commission to maintain the monument scheme and to dismantle the remaining pedestal and altar at Antakalnis Cemetery are an integral part of the monument,” Gabrielius Grubinskas “Once the pedestal and the altar at Antakalnis Cemetery are dismantled all the elements of the composition will be taken to Grūtas Park,” he added The works will be carried out by LB Construction a company that won the tender called by Grinda The contract was signed in mid-January and the pedestal and the altar are to be removed within four weeks The Vilnius authorities decided to dismantle the statues of Soviet soldiers in June 2022 after the Department of Cultural Heritage changed the criteria for the evaluation of immovable cultural properties The move followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which prompted Lithuanian municipalities to start removing symbols of occupation The statues are currently stored at a site operated by Grinda Lithuania’s intelligence warned of possible provocations yet the police recorded no incidents until early afternoon Several dozen people came to Vilnius’ Antakalnis Cemetery between morning and noon Most of them said they were there to commemorate victory over fascists and pay tribute to their grandparents and other relatives who died in the war gathered at the site of a former Soviet memorial in central Klaipėda Lithuania’s third biggest city on the Baltic coast Around 20 police officers were patrolling at Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius and nearby streets The cemetery holds a tomb of Red Army soldiers It was topped by a World War Two memorial which was removed in late 2022 noting that no visitors were wearing the black and orange Ribbon of Saint George a Soviet symbol which was previously common on May 9 The symbol was banned in Lithuania in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine Some people at Antakalnis Cemetery expressed anger over the removal of the Soviet WW2 memorial where they had gathered and laid flowers for many years to commemorate the date Vilnius’ authorities had the statues of Soviet soldiers removed in late 2022 and the pedestal dismantled later A poster brought by one person on Thursday read: “Here stood a monument to anti-fascists; it was torn down by fascists’ defenders!” Flowers and candles were placed on the stairs at the site on Thursday and wreaths were brought from the diplomatic missions of some post-Soviet countries but there was no wreath or other tributes from the Russian embassy an activist who is currently standing trial on charges of aiding another state to act against Lithuania said she was celebrating “the victory of all nations” Ukraine must understand that they have to be with us on Victory Day Because it was the victory of all nations,” she told reporters at the cemetery when asked if it was appropriate to commemorate the Soviet victory while Russia is waging war in Ukraine Most of those who came to the cemetery were avoiding media attention expecting to be asked questions about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the Soviet occupation of Lithuania told BNS that he comes to Antakalnis Cemetery every year out of tradition and because his grandfather fought in World War Two and celebrated “the victory over fascists” Do you think there are none in Ukraine?” he said some members of the city’s Russian-speaking community gathered at the memorial to Soviet soldiers on Daukanto Street at noon to mark Victory Day The memorial changed after Russia’s war in Ukraine: bronze statues of soldiers were removed The fallen are commemorated by memorial plaques with engraved names then Leningrad; most of them are now deceased I come here out of respect,” said Igor Volkov who has lived in Klaipėda for over 50 years History can be interpreted in different ways and “you will never know how it really was” “What I regret is that they are waging war on monuments It’s disgusting that you can fight without enemies,” he said told journalists that some members of the community no longer want to come to the place after part of the memorial was removed head of the Public Order Service at the Klaipėda County Chief Police Commissariat said that heightened police presence around the monument will continue until Friday morning adding that the area is also under surveillance by security cameras “Although the contractor had planned that it would take until Monday to dismantle and transport the statues and all the statues were transported to Grinda yesterday afternoon,” Gabrielius Grubinskas until an agreement on their transfer to another location is reached The municipality is considering handing the removed sculptures over to the National Museum of Lithuania The dismantling of the monument to the Red Army soldiers started at Antakalnis Cemetery on Tuesday despite interim measures imposed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee The committee imposed the interim measures after it received a petition signed by several people who identified themselves as “ethnic Russians” It left the measures in place after Lithuania’s appeal The Interior Ministry and municipal officials insist that the UN committee was misled by the arguments of the petitioners who claim that the monument will be desecrated and the nearby remains reburied Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said that “the graves and tombstones will not be touched” as the removal concerns only the “Soviet propaganda statues” Vilnius Council has previously unanimously voted to remove the six grey granite statues depicting Soviet soldiers from World War Two Read more: Vilnius postpones removal of Soviet monument as UN human rights committee intervenes the Vilnius authorities took the final step by taking them into the city’s ownership plans to finish the dismantling works by November 1 were frustrated after the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee received a complaint and imposed temporary measures The complainants said that the Vilnius authorities’ decision to dismantle the Soviet-era sculptures violated the rights of Lithuania’s ethnic minorities and their right to respect for private and family life The Justice Ministry has sent explanations to the Committee The municipality has decided to cover the statues until the matter is resolved Mayor Remigijus Šimašius has claimed that this is done both to “not annoy people” and to protect the monument from vandalism as there have been at least a couple of recent incidents where the statues have been defaced some Soviet monuments are being dismantled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine "Antakalnis remembers a deep history it is one of the oldest and greenest micro-districts of Vilnius The fact that mammoth bones were found in it during the construction of underground communications only testifies to its rich past and the connection with nature that the neighborhood has preserved to this day A valuable find unearthed more than half a century ago has become a silent symbol of Antakalnis We want to talk to him again and remind his story not only to the residents of the microdistrict We are building a residential project "Vileišio 27" in the area near Neris - we thought it would be interesting to see how these animals would look like when they were our neighbors" head of marketing and communication of real estate project developer Realco The vision was materialized and realistic images were created by photo artist Adas Vasiliauskas with the help of artificial intelligence "Not much is known about the mammoth bones found in Antakalni although they are an integral part of this micro-district of the capital I wanted not just to create a stunning photo but to make people who saw it stop and think about whether mammoths really lived in Antakalni and also to understand that this magnificent animal is strongly connected with the history of the area" The photographer admits that when creating the visuals the aim was not to recreate the mammoths according to their actual size - on the contrary they wanted to show the animals as large and majestic The production of the visuals took several hours - the artificial intelligence cannot yet "work" with existing photos so we had to use different tools to create each particle individually the mammoths that disappeared in Europe were about 4 meters long and 3,6 meters high weighed about 7 tons and resembled Indian elephants in appearance Their daggers were also impressive - the tusk of an adult mammoth could weigh about 10 kg and be 3 meters long Vasiliauskas placed the prehistoric mammoths on the coast of the Neris winding past Antakalnis next to the high-class residential project "Vileišio 27" developed by the "Realco" company Open days are planned here on December 7-9 - their participants will have the opportunity to go inside the project and admire the territories where mammoths once reigned from the balconies of the apartments Mammoth bones were discovered in the area in the summer of 1957 when workers were laying sewer pipes on Smėlio street the earthwork was interrupted by an unexpected find - large bones Then the workers decided to cut down the find and throw its parts into a nearby pit one of the executors reported the found bones to the authorities the employees of the Institute of History determined that they are the leg bones of a mammoth Earthworks were stopped for a while and the area was scouted Excavations lasting a couple of weeks yielded results - in a somewhat deeper and wider area front right and rear right legs were found This is not only the largest paleontological find discovered in Lithuania and the entire Baltic region but also the most complete mammoth skeleton discovered on the territory of Lithuania The finds are currently stored and exhibited in the Tad Ivanauskas Zoological Museum in Kaunas It is likely that the mammoth found in Antakalni lived in Vilnius during the post-glacial period when the first trees began to spread and a permanent vegetation cover was formed Uniformed and non-uniformed police officers will patrol the cemetery More police officers will be at military cemeteries throughout the country to prevent provocations and possible acts of vandalism Police officers will also keep a close watch on public spaces and monitor the situation regarding the display of banned symbols Gabrielius Grubinskas of Vilnius Municipality told BNS the city authorities had no indication of any planned gatherings to mark Victory Day “We have not received any requests for permission to hold a gathering If we receive information about a planned gathering without a permit we would pass the information on to police officers,” Grubinskas said Lithuanian intelligence warned of possible provocations as Russia and some other former Soviet countries mark Victory Day on May 9 saying that the likelihood of attacks or provocations against anti-Soviet monuments and various sites in Lithuania remained elevated The end of World War Two is commemorated in Europe on May 8 Russia and some other Soviet-ruled countries mark the day of victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 bigger commemorations on this day take place in Vilnius and Klaipėda as they have bigger Russian-speaking communities The City Council is drafting a resolution on taking over the sculptures “Once the resolution is adopted and the sculptures are taken over [The municipal company] Grinda has already carried out a market consultation on the method of removal and is ready to carry out the work A council meeting is scheduled for September 14,” the municipality said Antakalnis Cemetery currently has a World War Two memorial featuring six grey granite statues of Red Army soldiers Its removal was unanimously backed by Vilnius politicians in early June soon after it was delisted as protected heritage Other municipalities across Lithuania have been removing Soviet World War Two memorials since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Vilnius will sign an agreement to display the monuments at the park for at least 20 years The city’s authorities decided to dismantle the stelae in June after the Department of Cultural Heritage changed the criteria for the assessment of immovable cultural valuables This decision was appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee interim measures have been in place until now The decision was appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee and the interim measures introduced after the complaint remain in place The measures were put in place after the committee received a petition signed by several individuals calling themselves "ethnic Russians" an activist who went to meet with the Belarusian authorities earlier this year "The Council's decision does not run counter to the interim measures as the statues are simply being moved to another display location," the municipality said Commenting on the decision to remove the statues despite the ban Lithuania's Justice Ministry and the Vilnius authorities said the UN committee was led to believe that the monument would be desecrated and that the nearby remains would be reburied The statues are currently stored within the premises of Grinda The removal of the Soviet sculptures is “the culmination of the Lithuanian government’s fierce desire to destroy the memory of the heroes who liberated Lithuania and Europe from Nazism” “This barbaric mockery of the dead evokes only a feeling of deep contempt and justified indignation in every normal person,” it added the dismantling of the monument to the Red Army soldiers started at Antakalnis Cemetery despite interim measures imposed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee The Russian Embassy has called on international and public organisations “to assess this demonstrative disregard for the decisions of the UN body” the Assessment Council of the Department of Cultural Heritage (KPD) decided to remove a total of six granite sculptures depicting Red Army soldiers from the Immovable Cultural Property Register we got permission from KPD that those sculptures are not related to burial sites and tombstones Now that we have received this interpretation we can remove the sculptures,” Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimasius said there are no remains buried under the sculptures He also said that the sculptures would not be damaged during the removal process As estimated by the municipal company Grinda all of the necessary procedures and removal of the sculptures could be carried out within approximately a month and a half the sculptures would be stored temporarily at the site of Grinda adding that their eventual fate would be decided by the Municipal Historical Memory Commission of Vilnius Lithuania started reviewing and dismantling Soviet memorial signs in various locations after Russia started its ongoing war in Ukraine The Lithuanian parliament Seimas has also drafted a “desovietisation” law which proposes to remove symbols of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes and the information used to promote them from all public places in the country Read more: Lithuania’s new ‘desovietisation law’ – what does it mean? people put flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers in Vilnius’ Antakalnis Cemetery This day is celebrated in Russia as Victory Day over Nazi Germany commemorates the end of the Second World War on May 8 The recently appointed deputy finance minister admits that he visits the Antakalnis Cemetery on May 9 every year “This day has always been important in our family but to maintain that respect for my grandparents we try to maintain that tradition and go to the Antakalnis Cemetery on May 9 to lay flowers at the graves at the symbolic places,” Gavrilov told LRT TV The deputy minister also used to post his May 9 greetings on Facebook but says he no longer does so he intends to continue to commemorate the Victory Day “Most of those who come to the cemetery with a carnation are not enemies of Lithuania do their duties and remember the war without a negative attitude towards Lithuania,” Gavrilov said he also wrote on Facebook that there is no need to increase Lithuania’s defence funding Now he says he has changed his mind due to the geopolitical situation Gavrilov graduated from the Military Academy’s platoon leader course in 2003 and says he supports Ukraine and would defend Lithuania against an aggressor if necessary “I am ready to defend independence morally and otherwise there is no question of that,” the deputy minister said vice chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee “May 9 is an important day for all Lithuanian families because it is the day of the occupation of Lithuania The deputy finance minister can choose to see other shades and continue to commemorate it – we are a democracy – just let him resign first,” Baranovas wrote on Facebook The Vilnius branch of the Social Democratic Party will recommend him not to go to the cemetery on May 9 anymore a member of the Liberal Movement faction in the Seimas and former culture minister has called the deputy minister’s behaviour “domestic Sovietism” you see that previously domestic anti-Semitism and now domestic Sovietism are coming into force,” Kairys said “I thought that at least such things had gone out of fashion but what we see is that not only can they come back into fashion are allowing themselves to be manipulated by such ideas,” he added the President’s Office called Gavrilov’s position on May 9 incomprehensible and unjustifiable Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius said he has no doubts about his deputy’s loyalty to the State of Lithuania “I do not doubt his loyalty to the State of Lithuania and his qualifications the only comment,” Šadzius told BNS on Friday when Germany signed the surrender act in 1945 Lithuania did not become free at the end of the war because it was occupied by the Soviet Union Russia uses the Victory Day of May 9 to spread its propaganda and ideology Gavrilov was appointed deputy finance minister this week In the team of social democrat Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius “The Antakalnis cemetery stelae will not collapse as expressively as Riga’s largest Soviet monument did recently,” the mayor told BNS the statues will be taken down in an orderly manner “It is regrettable that the work had to be delayed because of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s decision Municipal officials said earlier that the sculptures might be removed this week The Justice Ministry said last week that the United Nations Human Rights Committee had left in place its interim measures thus formally barring Vilnius authorities from removing the statues for the time being The petitioners include Kazimieras Juraitis who made a controversial trip Minsk earlier this year to meet with Belarusian authorities The statues are being removed despite the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Committee The Interior Ministry and municipal officials insist that the UN committee was misled by the arguments of the petitioners who claim that the monument will be desecrated and the nearby remains reburied The municipality plans to transfer the sculptures to the National Museum of Lithuania after they are removed it received a letter from the committee after it was approached by several individuals who called themselves “ethnic Russians” who went to meet with the Belarusian authorities earlier this year According to Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska the interim measures were imposed based on misleading information as a state with the rule of law and respecting its international obligations and asked for the interim measures to be lifted as soon as possible,” she said “We believe that the UN [committee] was approached in the manipulation of international human rights instruments such as the 1966 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol on the right of individual petition and for purposes that are fundamentally incompatible with them We hope that the committee will take Lithuania’s arguments into account and lift the measures imposed,” the minister added.Later on Wednesday Dobrowolska said the ministry expects an answer from committee within a month Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said he expected a “rational decision” from the committee that the sculptures will not be removed by November 1 “There is no intention to desecrate the graves of WW2 soldiers or to demolish the memorial The intention is to remove the relic of Soviet militarist ideology from the cemetery by relocating only one part of the memorial – the six sculptures featuring soldiers of the occupying Soviet army,” the Justice Ministry said Lithuania also said the applicants had requested interim measures “in the absence of the necessary legal conditions” ie without a clear need to do so or any real threat of irreversible damage to the rights guaranteed by the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The complainants say that the Vilnius authorities’ decision to dismantle the Soviet sculptures at Antakalnis Cemetery violates the rights of national minorities and the right to respect for private and family life a controversial figure who claims to be a lawyer was banned by the European Court of Human Rights in 2016 from representing applicants in this court The committee said it was not prohibiting Lithuania from dismantling the sculptures The committee said it may review the need for interim measures at any time based on the state’s arguments The removal of the six grey granite sculptures featuring Soviet WW2 soldiers was unanimously backed by Vilnius City Council in early June after they were removed from Lithuania’s register of immovable cultural property by heritage officials The initial plan was to remove the monument by November 1 the monument was vandalised with an expletive.CORRECTION: The earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the United Nations Human Rights Committee as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) where annual commemorations were traditionally held Antakalnis Cemetery featured a Soviet-era World War Two memorial The commemoration was modest and short on pomp that used to be characteristic of the occasion before the Ukraine war People congratulated each other on Victory Day and honoured the dead mainly by laying red carnations Some of the Victory Day commemorators also spoke about the war in Ukraine Some also expressed regret over the removal of the statues of Soviet soldiers in the cemetery said he celebrates the end of WW2 both on May 9 and on May 8 “I live and you live because they [Soviet soldiers] fought for us against fascism for freedom,” he told BNS He called the removal of the Soviet memorial “pure vandalism” and said the war in Ukraine was “caused by America “The English are also interfering and everyone is interfering And Ukraine is defending what they think is freedom The commemoration is closely watched by police officers who are looking whether the attendees are wearing the black and orange Ribbon of Saint George a symbol that was banned in Lithuania last year Wreaths from the Russian and Belarusian Embassies have also been laid at the site and recordings of songs praising the Soviet victory are being played said that on this day “the Soviet army liberated Europe from fascism” “Old folks fought and they were in concentration camps,” he told BNS son-in-law and grandson were killed by fascists” died on May 9 Kolesnikova called the removal of the Soviet statues an act of desecration the former leader of the pro-Soviet organization Yedinstvo also paid a visit to Antakalnis Cemetery later in the day When asked whether he thought it was appropriate to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine he told reporters that he believed in the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s narrative that a what is happening in Ukraine is a “special military operation” adding that the war was caused by Kyiv and NATO’s threat to Russia Victory Day is a controversial date for most Lithuanians since the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania during World War The country remained occupied until it declared independence in 1990 “The Justice Ministry has informed us that the UN Human Rights Committee has taken a decision on the statues in Antakalnis Cemetery leaving the interim protection measures in place,” Valdas Benkunskas It seems that either the committee did not look into the context and arguments presented by Lithuania or there is simply a lack of understanding of the overall situation,” he added Lithuanian Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said Vilnius may have to wait for two to five years for the committee's final decision on the removal of the statues The removal of the six grey granite sculptures featuring Soviet WW2 soldiers was unanimously backed by Vilnius City Council in early June after they were removed from Lithuania's register of immovable cultural property by heritage officials the UN Human Rights Committee put interim measures in place after it received complaints from several individuals who called themselves “ethnic Russians” The Justice Ministry then sent explanations to the committee and Vilnius municipality decided to cover the statues until the matter was resolved According to Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius the sculptures will be removed despite the UN committee’s decision “Yesterday we received the position of the UN Human Rights Committee it is very unfortunate that they have been misled by the completely wrong arguments of the pro-Russian actors and continue to propose to protect these Soviet constructions while they carry an investigation for two to five years,” the mayor wrote on Facebook the war – both on the Ukrainian battlefield and in the information space – is happening now The committee does not allow us to go into cemeteries and destroy gravestones and monuments We will safely remove and protect the Soviet propaganda statues The graves and tombstones were never intended to be touched Šimašius said he will inform the government of the plans to remove the Soviet monument on Tuesday: “I trust that the government will not put the brakes on at tomorrow’s meeting.” the removal of the Soviet sculptures at the Antakalnis Cemetery will start on Wednesday next week and is expected to be completed by mid-December Dobrowolska said that “all legal and diplomatic means to enable the committee to understand the arguments and facts have been exhausted” “Some of the interim measures are not in line with reality because they speak about the reburying of the graves which is something that the municipality has never planned to do,” she said some Russian-speakers celebrated the so-called Victory over Fascism Day promoted by Russian propaganda Some placed flowers at the monument to Soviet soldiers demolished last year others placed flowers on the graves of the soldiers themselves Those who came to the cemetery were mostly speechless, some barely heard the journalists' questions about Russian aggression in Ukraine others yearn for the removed monument to Soviet soldiers Single visitors lay flowers and quickly leave the cemetery there were as many people who came to the cemetery as there were journalists Most of the people gathered are not talking they are reluctant to communicate with journalists.  "Adios amigos," several women told reporters when asked if they would like to talk "Happy Victory Day," a young man said to a journalist from Elta When the journalist replied that she does not celebrate this holiday if you don't celebrate," said the man quietly as he passed by she said that her uncle served in World War II so she comes every year to pay his respects "We try to pass on that information and history to the children we are talking about the world as it should be we do not justify war," a woman who introduced herself as Ekaterina told Elta Some of those present were outraged that the monument had been removed how often do you change the monuments on the graves of relatives You don't damage monuments if you find out that your relatives did something wrong," the man told reporters He communicated in Russian and refused to speak to journalists in Lithuanian The man said his father also served in World War II There are a lot of them in Latin America," another visitor to the cemetery but some lay down flowers and run away as soon as they see the TV cameras Some even fight angrily that they are being filmed  "Shame on Vilnius!" said a woman of respectable age when asked about the removed monument to Soviet soldiers Another woman complained that May 9th is celebrated everywhere in Europe and Lithuania does not celebrate this date She admitted that her grandparents' land was given to collective farms but she is still grateful to the Soviet soldiers one woman asked another who came to the cemetery a Russian citizen and former leader of the pro-Soviet organization Yedinstvo He is now on trial in a criminal case for the 1991 denial of the fact of the aggression of the USSR against Lithuania Erika Švenčionienė appeared in the cemetery together with V "Those who lost the Second World War, now they have come, now they think that their hour is trying to make sense of themselves with terrible, ugly deeds. Today we celebrate Victory Day, the day of holy victory. where would you be I? How many more camps would be built? Today I celebrate Victory Day, Ukraine you must understand that you need to be with us Being together on Victory Day was a victory for all nations We were happy when we finally won against that unhealthy man Hitler" When asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin is not doing the same thing in Ukraine now Švenčionienė started to get angry about this issue "(Expletive) you're fed up with your Ukraine," a man shouted as he stood next to the graves who responded with Russian curse words and urged him to look into the question of Palestine Švenčionienė started reciting Russian verses about the war "And you political seekers and representatives of the media her words were accompanied by applause and saying "molodiec" (beautiful in Russian) A man dressed in medals also appeared in the cemetery he congratulated everyone on Victory Day and kept shouting "Krestos voskres (Christ is risen - ELTA) he was wearing an orange and brown T-shirt The combination of these colors reminds me of Georgijas ribbon the man said that he can wear such an outfit One man put up a poster at the place of the removed monument to Soviet soldiers with the inscription: "A monument to anti-fascists stood here, it was demolished by fascist defenders." Police and the officials of the Public Order Department of the municipality did not prevent him from erecting the poster but before that they checked what was in the bags in which he brought the poster Russian songs glorifying the victory were played which were arranged by a young guy who had a backpack with the sign of Vytis He told Elta that he had served in the Lithuanian army where he was allegedly humiliated because of his surname of Ukrainian origin ELTA reminds that Russia and Russian communities celebrate Victory Day over Nazi Germany on May 9 Europe commemorates the end of the Second World War a day earlier Lithuania remained part of the Soviet Union which occupied it and carried out repressions against the peaceful population “We looked at what we had and found the only Soviet eyesore – six granite sculptures one of them with a rifle – standing in the Soviet graves’ section of the cemetery,” Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimasius wrote on Facebook on Thursday this sculpture ensemble is protected as cultural heritage in Lithuania along with the adjacent graves of Soviet soldiers but I will initiate the removal of the sculpture ensemble and the Soviet habit of turning cemeteries into memorials for ideological idols is repulsive,” the Vilnius mayor said Vilnius municipality has already contacted the Department of Cultural Heritage If permission is granted to remove the ensemble the six sculptures will be transferred to Grūtas Park of Soviet-era relics near Druskininkai Lithuania started reviewing and dismantling Soviet memorial signs in various locations around the country after Russia invaded Ukraine Culture Minister Simonas Kairys signed an order giving leeway for the country’s municipalities to decide on the fate of the Soviet memorials at their cemeteries Read more: Lithuanian municipalities allowed to remove Soviet heritage at cemeteries which will finally allow the organization of the removal of the complex of graves of soldiers of the Second World War in the Antakalnis cemetery Although in fact these 6 figurative stelae have been managed by the municipality as a trust for a long time formally until now they were considered state property and according to the procedure for taking over property of the state of the Republic of Lithuania to the ownership of Municipalities they could only be taken over by a decision of the City Council use and dispose of the property that belongs to it by right of ownership the monument to Soviet soldiers will be removed the works are planned to be completed by November 1 Where the monuments will be located after removal - in a museum or elsewhere - will still be decided but it is clear that they will no longer be in the capital's public space (the stelae depict or are a component of the activities of the Nazi German or USSR army or other special services of these countries which carried out repressions of the Lithuanian population or sculptures inscriptions or other symbols promoting their members) The situation is similar with P. Cvirka's monument, which was taken down last November: the decision of the Council will clarify the fact of taking over the monument of P. Cvirka by right of trust. This object is taken over by the state budgetary institution Lithuanian National Museum the Department of Cultural Heritage clarified the act of the Council for the Evaluation of the Graves of Soviet Union Soldiers of the Second World War deleting 6 figural stelae depicting Soviet soldiers from its description of valuable properties the complex "Graves of Soldiers of the Second World War of the Soviet Union" had a regional level of significance it was necessary to change the legal regulations Antakalnio kapinėse prasidėjo Antrojo pasaulinio karo karius vaizduojančių stelų ardymo darbai PHOTO: ELTA / Julius Kalinskas Workers on Tuesday started dismantling the monument to Soviet World War Two soldiers in Vilnius' Antakalnis Cemetery despite interim measures imposed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius says he has no doubt that the monument is "a symbol of Soviet ideology that has nothing to do with graves" and that it is being taken down "legitimately and justifiably" The mayor said that all the necessary permits have been obtained and that the UN committee's findings are not an obstacle to removing the statues "I've no doubt that this is the only right decision," he told reporters Simasius noted that the UN committee is asking not to dismantle graves not to remove tombstones and not to destroy heritage "I'm glad that we don't have to report to the United Nations," the mayor said the country – the government and the Justice Ministry which is representing the country – will naturally have to tell the Human Rights Committee what we are doing." "The worst thing that can happen is that the United Nations can take the wrong view the discussion of the decision there seems strange," he added The capital has said that care will be taken not to damage the monument consisting of six granite statues of Soviet soldiers while removing it with the work expected to be completed within a few weeks Lithuania's Justice Ministry said last month that the UNHRC had left its interim measures for the Soviet-era monument in place thus formally banning Vilnius' authorities from removing it for the time being The measures were requested by a group of people calling themselves "ethnic Russians" who is also involved in the controversial case of the International Forum of Good Neighborhood an association founded by Algirdas Paleckis The Justice Ministry and municipal officials say that the committee was misled by the arguments of the petitioners who claim that the Soviet-era monument will be desecrated and the nearby remains reburied The municipality is planning to hand the removed sculptures over to the National Museum of Lithuania the fifth modular extension to the nursery-kindergarten "Atžalėlės" (74 Antakalni str.) was ceremonially opened today The new two-story kindergarten has 6 groups educational spaces for children's education and games 105 children were admitted to the modular kindergarten 1,5 children are educated in the age group of 3-15 years 2 children are educated in the 3nd groups of 2-30 years of age 4 children are educated in the 5rd groups of 3-60 years of age The new kindergarten employs all the necessary pedagogues (preschool teaching assistants and specialists in educational support for the child (psychologist "By implementing complex measures for the development of the network of pre-school education institutions and by opening the fifth modular kindergarten in the city we are reducing the number of children waiting in line and giving the opportunity to small Vilnius residents to attend kindergarten as close as possible to their homes," says Deputy Mayor Edita Tamošiūnaitė Next week, it is planned to open the last planned extension of the modular kindergarten to the "Medynėlis" nursery-kindergarten (AP Kavoliuko St. 5). The municipality also rents premises for the activities of kindergartens. Premises are already rented in Perkūnkiemi, In Pilaite Rental procedures are also planned through announced negotiations in Verkii one of the districts with the greatest shortage of kindergartens and additionally in Pilaite and Pashilaičiai Authors-architects of modular kindergartens Sigitas Kuncevičius design firm Vilnius is one of the largest public healthcare institutions in Lithuania Antakalnis polyclinic presents patients with a new queue management tool - a mobile app You can use it on your smartphone right now The institution's administration hopes that this will be another important step forward in order to improve patient service and foster a good experience during visits to doctors patients of the Antakalnis polyclinic used to inform the doctor about their arrival using the terminal located in the waiting room This service will continue to be available but from now on patients are given the additional option of reporting their arrival using a mobile app "This will allow us to continue to improve the quality of patient service and provide more options for conveniently announcing your arrival at the polyclinic" Patients of the Antakalnis Polyclinic can download the "Antakpol" mobile application for free in the Google Play and App Store stores right now and it will be possible to start using it immediately after arriving at the institution before visiting the doctor patients who have arrived at the polyclinic will be able to report their arrival and receive a queue number directly in the mobile app on their smartphone It is an alternative to the terminals in the waiting room of the polyclinic in order to quickly and conveniently get a sequence number This innovation will allow patients to save time and more conveniently use the services of the Antakalnis polyclinic" The Antakalnis Polyclinic has also made sure that the app is also adapted for people with visual impairments "This ensures easier and more convenient orientation in the polyclinic allowing all our patients to use modern technologies," said the head of the institution adding that the administration of the Antakalnis polyclinic constantly strives to improve patient service and experience during visits to doctors “This queue management mobile app is just the beginning we plan to expand the functionality of the app to include even more services and opportunities This should become an effective tool for analyzing patients' waiting times in order to optimize the provision of services and further improve the patient experience" services have not been provided in a "live" queue for a long time and no longer are people asked who is the last in line The new mobile app is another step towards providing modern and convenient healthcare services a cycling skills track for beginners will be installed This bike course will be for cyclists who want to learn the basics of riding a bike over hills and develop basic bike handling skills The base of the track will be a sand-clay mixture based on loose clay There will also be elements that allow novice visitors to safely learn bicycle handling skills by overcoming elements specially equipped for this purpose - hills The construction of the track is planned to be completed by November of this year