Beginning of the end: Lithuanians on the bloodbath 30 years ago that precipitated the collapse of the USSR

Three decades on from the deadly events in Lithuania of January 1991, the ramifications are still being felt, reports Oliver Carroll in Moscow

Soviet tanks rumble into Lithuania in 1991  (nuotr)

Thirty years ago, in the frosty early winter of 1991, a moment when the self-declared independence of Lithuania wobbled under heavy pressure from Moscow, factory worker Vytautas Peciukonis tuned in to the radio to hear news of Soviet tanks rolling in his native Vilnius.

A few hours later, he was pulling bodies from under the bellies of those tanks.

The tragic events of the night of January 12-13 cascaded rapidly, Peciukonis tells The Independent. At Vilnius’ TV tower, the epicentre of clashes between Soviet troops and pro-independence protesters, mere minutes separated happy protest songs from the  bloodshed after midnight.