MEDININKAI — 1991 · Murder
The Medininkai Massacre
On the morning of 31 July 1991, seven Lithuanian customs and police officers serving at the Medininkai checkpoint on the Belarusian border, set up after Lithuania declared independence, were shot dead. The sole survivor, a customs officer, was left permanently disabled with severe brain damage. The attack was linked to the Soviet interior ministry's OMON special unit. A former OMON member, arrested in 2007 and extradited to Lithuania, was sentenced to life in 2011; in 2016 the appeals court reclassified the crime as one against international law, and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict in 2017. Three Russian citizens were also sentenced to life in absentia in 2016.
- Date
- 1991
- Place
- Vilnius District, Lithuania, Medininkai, LT
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 54.5400, 25.6500 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 31 July 1991Seven officers were killed at the Medininkai checkpoint.
- November 2007A former OMON member was arrested and extradited in January 2008.
- 11 May 2011Vilnius Regional Court sentenced him to life.
- October 2016Three Russian citizens were sentenced to life in absentia.
- 28 February 2017The Supreme Court upheld the conviction.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts en.wikipedia.org ↗
- LRT — Medininkai massacre was a 'crime against humanity' lrt.lt ↗
- Netherlands and You — The Medininkai Massacre of 1991 netherlandsandyou.nl ↗
- Wikipedia
- LRT
- Government of the Netherlands
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
Related Cases
More cases from the 1990s
Categories
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.