Lithuania Tells of Soviet Threats on Poll

The Soviet military has distributed anti-secession leaflets warning that Lithuania will be destroyed if residents vote for independence in a weekend poll, the republic’s president said Thursday.

Vytautas Landsbergis said also that Soviet troops plan 10 days of maneuvers in the three pro-independence Baltic states on Sunday, the day after the poll. He called the exercises a blatant attempt to intimidate Lithuania.

“They’re building up an atmosphere of intimidation and, of course, this will have a negative effect on the poll,” Landsbergis said.

Fearing a Soviet attack, hundreds of armed Lithuanians remained on guard at the Parliament in Vilnius. Soviet troops seized Lithuania’s broadcasting center on Jan. 13, leaving 13 civilians and one soldier dead. Seven people have been killed in neighboring Latvia in a Soviet crackdown.