Lithuanian Appeal Court to Rule in September on Partisan Monument Vandalism Case

Lithuania's Court of Appeal has concluded its review of an appeal filed by one of three foreign nationals convicted of vandalizing a monument to partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas. A ruling is expected in mid-September.

The appeal was submitted by Russian citizen Antonas Patrakovas, who received the harshest sentence of four years in prison and is seeking acquittal. The court's spokesperson stated that no additional evidence was examined during the appeal hearing. Patrakovas was brought to the court but declined to attend.

The three men were convicted by the Kaunas Regional Court last December for assisting a foreign state in actions against Lithuania, property damage, and desecrating a place of public respect. The court found that Patrakovas and Nikolajus Silinas, who holds dual Estonian and Russian citizenship, carried out the act of vandalism, while Konstantinas Venkovas gathered information about the monument and other sites of public significance on behalf of Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

The monument to Ramanauskas-Vanagas in Merkinė was daubed with red paint in January 2024. The convicts were also ordered to jointly pay 1,500 euros in non-pecuniary damages to the Merkinė Town Museum.

Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas was one of the most prominent leaders of the Lithuanian partisan resistance against Soviet occupation after World War II. He was captured, tortured, and executed by the KGB in 1957 and was posthumously awarded Lithuania's highest state honor.