Thread by @amaragraps

@P_Kallioniemi Hi!
There is a much larger context for the Soviet putdowns in the Baltic countries in January 1991, which includes Lithuania but goes far beyond Lithuania /1

@P_Kallioniemi 1) • Food prices in the Baltics had tripled.

--> LT government that was more pro-Kremlin RESIGNED January 9.

--> NEW LT government January 10 which was MORE pro-Lithuania

@P_Kallioniemi 2) • High #s Draft dodgers in USSR, *especially* in the Baltics.
Because:
1) Independence movements
2) The EE/LV/LT boys were treated extra-badly by other soldiers
3) EE/LV/LT gov't free'd boys of their military duty and
Baltic societies encouraged boys to hide in forests
/3

@P_Kallioniemi 2) cont'd
--> Kremlin/Gorbachev decided ** to use the Baltics as an example**,
and sent 1000 paratroopers January 9 into LT to 'round up draft dodgers and military deserters'.
/4

@P_Kallioniemi • Kremlin fixed a ban on ALL Public Protests, which made the Lithuanians and (LV/EE) protest MORE.

ALL 3 countries began society-wide efforts to protect their communications and government institutions.

In LV it is called 'the Barricades period.
/5

@P_Kallioniemi • The Kremlin Paratroopers who were put in Baltics/Lithuania to round up draft dodgers did NOT do that, and INSTEAD
on January 14 in Vilnius , 'made an example' of the unarmed civilians who had begun to protect their TVCommunications and government buildings.
/6

@P_Kallioniemi • Gorbachev and Yeltsin were playing 'Bad cop/Good cop' (Gorby/Yeltsin), with Yeltsin siding with the Baltic countries, and Gorby calling Yeltsin a provocateur.
/7

@P_Kallioniemi • One week later, Soviet OMON attacked Riga.

What else was happening at that time?
Look at the dates!

• January 14: Soviet Vilnius Attacks
• January 17. Persian Gulf War began
• January 20: Soviet Riga attacks
/8

@P_Kallioniemi • The Baltic people claimed that Gorby chose that time to send in troops to those two Baltic capitals while the world's attention was focused on the Middle East.

/8

@P_Kallioniemi oops that was /9
Sorry for the hasty putting together of the story!
I have newspaper clippings of all of these.. but I wanted to respond fast.

@P_Kallioniemi • KGB were ALSO acting (probably)

Pro-Kremlin Communists in all 3 Baltic countries were demanding that the Kremlin MUST OVERTHROW the new democratically elected Baltic governments.
/10

@P_Kallioniemi Connecting properly to the sequence:

@P_Kallioniemi • The Estonians built barricades in Tallinn city center to be ready too, but the expected Soviet attacks never came.

The Bush Administration, in a rare moment of going against Gorbachev, loudly condemmed the Vilnius and Riga attacks.

/end

@P_Kallioniemi Some newspapers. Jan. 8, 9, 10, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 11, 12, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 13, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 14, 1991 (10h time difference) Many stories...

@P_Kallioniemi January 14, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 14, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi San Francisco News, two days later:

@P_Kallioniemi January 16, 1991 Many stories. SJ Mercury News

@P_Kallioniemi January 17, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 18, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 19, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi January 20, 1991

@P_Kallioniemi Newsweek. January 21, 1991. Check out the interview with Gorbachev's Military Advisor. Every quote is a Zinger.

@P_Kallioniemi January 21, 1991. Soviet OMON killings in Riga, viewed from the San Francisco Bay Area

@P_Kallioniemi Full page source:

@P_Kallioniemi January 22, 1991. View from the San Fran Bay Area.
One day past Gorbachev's OMON killings in Riga.

@P_Kallioniemi January 23, 1991. View from Calif., after Soviet killings in Vilnius and Riga.
A little education about this important propaganda keyword: NATIONALIST
Gorby luuuuved this word! He could smear the Baltics, Ukraine, Georgia, and any other group with it, that sought independence.

@P_Kallioniemi If you are not convinced that the Kremlin information war is as large as its kinetic wars, you need to pay more attention.
In January 1991, and throughout 1991 and 1992, the Kremlin tried every trick to control their propaganda narrative.
Here is January 24, 1991:

@P_Kallioniemi Another example, one year later.
This one took me some time to untangle. It shows how the russian cancer destroyed the 🇱🇻Latvian Popular Front press from within.
See the telling keyword: "Minorities" used by the new owners.
January 9, 1992

@P_Kallioniemi Connecting thread from January Baltic events.
The main factions which brought down the USSR in August 1991, can be seen in January.
Yeltsin is the most interesting snake- he acted as a reformist alternative to Gorby, then his true colors appeared in Aug.

@P_Kallioniemi January 26, 1991.
More on the 3 Factions (Hardliners, Gorby, Yeltsin), especially the hardliners.
Reminder that Pugo 'drank the tea' 7 months later in August.

@P_Kallioniemi January 27, 1991
This shows Estonia's readiness to protect their new Re-Independence after Gorbachev's killings in Vilnius and Riga. The Bush Sr. Administration is also showing a rare moral backbone with respect to Gorby, which was rare in this 1991 year.

@P_Kallioniemi January 28, 1991
Here the 'Black Colonel', Viktor Alksnis, Gorby's killer in Latvia who directed the OMON to shoot unarmed civilians, appears.
Journalists usually didn't know how to interpret this POS.
And another Lithuanian shot by the Soviets at a checkpoint. No axe this time

@P_Kallioniemi Yes, Alksnis is still alive. He is pals with Igor Girkin / Strelkov.
You can catch up to the murderous deeds of Viktor Alksnis here: x.com/search?q=Alksn…

@P_Kallioniemi January 29, 1991
SJ Mercury News
This should interest all Latvians.

Q: Did lustration (*) occur in Latvia's police forces after 1991?
We know that LV Parliament officials with KGB ties were dismissed.
But what about Police (Interior Ministry)?

(*) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustration

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