Investigators: Russian GRU behind vandalising Lithuanian partisan leader’s monument

Lithuanian prosecutors completed a pretrial investigation accusing three foreign nationals—two dual Estonian-Russian citizens and one Russian citizen—of vandalising the monument to anti-Soviet partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas in Merkinė, southern Lithuania, in January 2024. The suspects, born in 1982, 1987, and 2005, and residing in Tallinn, were arrested by Estonian authorities and held in custody in Lithuania. The prosecution alleges the suspects acted under orders from Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, conducting prior reconnaissance and surveillance, and promised financial compensation. Charges include aiding a foreign state against Lithuania, property destruction, and desecration of a public memorial. Lithuanian President Nausėda warned in 2023 that such coordinated attacks on national symbols are planned abroad. This incident follows an earlier May 2023 vandalism of a similar monument in Bielėnai with no suspects identified.