Soviets Stage Show of Force in Lithuania

A column of Soviet armored personnel carriers and army trucks drove through the center of the Lithuanian capital today in the Kremlin’s latest show of force in the breakaway republic.

Lithuanian officials protested increased Soviet military activity and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s decree Wednesday ordering citizens to turn in their guns, saying the republic’s independence movement has been nonviolent.

But the Kremlin moved swiftly to implement emergency measures.

In a speech to Parliament, Lithuanian Procurator-General Vidudis Barauskas said he had been informed by Moscow that an 11-member team from the Soviet prosecutor’s office will soon be arriving in the republic to assist in enforcing Gorbachev’s order.

Gorbachev today also demanded that Lithuania stop signing up volunteer defense forces. The request came in a telegram to Lithuanian President Vytautus Landsbergis and was read on the evening TV news program “Vremya.”

A convoy of 15 personnel carriers and five trucks, towing military equipment, rolled through Vilnius this afternoon.

The action came just hours after Lithuanian Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskiene complained of the increasing activity of Soviet soldiers and demanded an explanation from the Kremlin.

During a break in today’s Supreme Council session, she told reporters that an estimated 30,000 Soviet troops were stationed in the republic, whose Parliament declared independence from Moscow on March 11 after the ruling Communists were removed from power in free elections.

“But, it changes daily,” she said, explaining why she sent a telegram to Gorbachev on Wednesday night demanding to know the number of Soviet troops and amount of military equipment sent to Lithuania over the last few days.