On Thursday evening, crowds of thousands of people gathered in Vilnius and other major Lithuanian cities in support of Ukraine, which is facing Russia’s military aggression.
In the Lithuanian capital, people gathered at Independence Square outside the parliament Seimas as part of a support campaign called Freedom Shines (Laisvė Šviečia). They chanted Slava Ukraini! Heroiam Slava! (Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!) as they waved Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian white-red-white flags.
The crowd then walked to Boris Nemcov Square outside the Russian Embassy in Lithuania where the official solidarity and support event started. There, the crowd observed a minute of silence in honour of those killed in the war in Ukraine and sang Lithuanian and Ukrainian anthems.
“Listen, do you know how many people Putin has killed in Ukraine today? Do you know how many he is planning to kill tomorrow? Do you know how many European leaders are taking Putin to the Hague Tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity? None? So, maybe Lithuania should raise the flag of freedom?” said professor Vytautas Landsbergis during the event.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė thanked people who gathered in such a large number and on short notice to express their disapproval of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“I think most of us are well aware that the fight today is not only for Ukraine’s freedom, territorial integrity, and sovereignty but also for the world we are used to, the world based on rules, the world of liberal democracy, freedom of speech, and the rule of law,” she said.
“Mr Putin, by declaring war on Ukraine, has very clearly declared war on all the things, on which the statehood of Lithuania is built,” Šimonytė added.
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