Several incidents of vandalism, apparently directed against the Belarusian community in Lithuania, have been reported in Vilnius this week.
Two windows of the Ivan Lutskevich Belarusian Museum and a window of the chapel of the Patriarchate of Constantinople were smashed in Vilnius on Wednesday, police said. The latter is a place where Belarusians usually pray.
Vilnius-based Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claims that the attacks are linked to the Russian and Belarusian governments.
“We strongly condemn the series of acts of vandalism in Vilnius against Belarusian organisations and institutions,” Tsikhanouskaya's office said in a statement on Thursday. “Such attacks are an aggressive attempt to intimidate the Belarusians settled in Lithuania. And most importantly, it is an attempt to sow strife between the Belarusian and Lithuanian peoples.”
“There is no doubt that we see here the hand of the [Alexander] Lukashenko and [Vladimir] Putin regime,” the office said.
Tsikhanouskaya’s office also mentioned a third incident, an offensive inscription left on the pavement in red paint outside the Dapamoga refugee shelter. It read “No place for Belarusian parasites here!”
Lithuania’s law enforcement authorities have refrained from commenting on whether these incidents are related.
Tsikhanouskaya’s office says this is an attempt by Russia and Belarus to divide their opponents, destabilise the Belarusian community in exile and take attention away from their own crimes.
“But we know they are afraid of our unity. These attempts to sow chaos actually only strengthen our resolve. We are confident that the Lithuanian authorities will carry out a thorough investigation and that those responsible will be punished,” the office said.
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