Pro-Government Militias

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Documentation for Lithuanian Riflemen's Union

July 20, 1990
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

As of today, Lithuanian police will be actively assisted in maintaining public order, fighting crime and strengthening the security of state borders by the Riflemen's Union.
A cooperation agreement between the Police Department and the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union was signed at the Interior Ministry today.
In May this year, the law on the Riflemen's Union was amended,..In it, the members of the Riflemen's Union are recognized as supporters of police. Meanwhile, a law on the reinforcement forces of police was adopted in 1998. This created all the legal grounds for the riflemen to become fully-fledged supporters of police, as they have now acquired an appropriate legal status and social guarantees, as well as rights and duties.

June 2, 1995
Baltic News Service

The Lithuanian Riflemen Union on Friday began three days of training on a range in Pabrade,...

The exercise will be observed by Defense Ministry, Voluntary State Defense Service, motorized infantry brigade Gelezinis Vilkas (Iron Wolf) and Lithuanian Military Academy representatives.
The Lithuanian Riflemen Union is a paramilitary social organization founded before World War II. Unlike the pre-war union members, the present riflemen are unarmed.

Dec. 27, 1997
Baltic News Service

Determined to shed its so far symbolic paramilitary functions, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union intends to become a military structure if the government gives it enough funds.
"The new statute of the Union provides for the integration of the riflemen into the country's defence system," The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union has about 3,200 members.
Its first combat platoon is operating in the second major city Kaunas ...
30 such platoons are to be formed next year, including combatant riflemen (men up to 45 years of age), riflewomen, young riflemen and noncombatant riflemen (older than 45 years).
About 2.5 million litas is required to establish the structure, and the Union hopes to get the money from the government's reserve fund.
The riflemen and women would be trained for about 20 days a year and are expected to cooperate with the Voluntary Homeguard Force, also a paramilitary organization.
The new program of the Union envisages cooperation with police, border guards and other services

Jan. 26, 1999
Baltic News Service

head of Lithuanian Riflemen Union, categorically denied the information spread by the New Union (NS) about the army's alleged training for extraordinary situation.

According to the press, one member of NS Kaunas Department said at a meeting over the weekend that Kaunas District Riflemen Union Chief Romualdas Dunauskas had met heads of the union's units last Friday to announce a clandestine order by the defence minister on holding of this kind of drills.

Nov. 3, 2000
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

Vilnius, 2nd November: Commander of the Vilnius district riflemen unit Riflemen Union, voluntary paramilitary organization has imposed heavy penalties on three riflemen who disobeyed his orders and wore their uniforms at the funeral of war-crimes suspect Aleksandras Lileikis in the end of September, the Lietuvos Zinios' tabloid said

Nov. 7, 2000
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

a similar institution has existed in Lithuania since January 1991, the organization of "Lithuanian riflemen" (Sauliu Sajunga) Riflemen Union, a paramilitary organization ... not long ago a resolution was passed to turn some functions in defending state borders over to the Sauliu Sajunga (as a rule, these are old military men who recall the years they spent in battles against the NKVD and eagerly describe them to young people).
According to the new resolution of the Lithuanian government the centre for civil resistance training will be given the status of an official institution under the country's National Defence Ministry. Its objectives will include strengthening national security and organizing training for young people on military affairs and on techniques of sabotage and subversion in the event Lithuania is ever occupied. Should this take place the centre has the duty of rousing the population to conduct an all-out battle with the occupying forces (including both armed and unarmed methods of resistance: disobedience to authority, refusing to cooperate with the administration, etc.)

April 6, 2001
Baltic News Service

The Lithuanian military and the paramilitary public organization the Riflemen's Union signed an agreement Friday for making their long-standing association official.
Under the agreement, the Lithuanian military will allow the militia to use its material and equipment, training techniques and equipment and weaponry. The Lithuanian military will also provide a military advisor for training the riflemen.
The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union pledged to organize military training of its marksmen, train youth for service in either regular or volunteer forces, teach youth civics and impart national consciousness, organize and hold joint cultural and sporting events between the riflemen and officers, and other things.

"The Riflemen's Union is getting younger, and it's especially nice that many educated people are joining up -- actors, doctors, architects, soldiers," he said.

The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is an independent, civilian militia, dedicated to complementing the state's military forces and inculcating civics and national consciousness. It is militarized, and operates within the framework of the Lithuanian defense system. The Riflemen's Union carries on the activity of the pre-1940 Lithuanian organization of the same name.

Oct. 29, 2002
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

On Monday 28 October , the Seimas parliament National Security and Defence Committee approved allocations to the national defence system.


Other institutions' programmes related to national defence will be granted 0.39 per cent or 210.1m litas. The funds will be used to finance the activity of the Lithuanian interior troops units, the Lithuanian Sauliu Sajunga Riflemen's Union, a voluntary organization and an antiterrorism programme at the State Security Department...

June 14, 2006
Baltic News Service

The committee suggests increasing the funding for the Riflemen's Union by 30,000 litas.

The National Security and Defense Committee on Wednesday considered budget allocation for the Police Department, the State Border Guard Service, the State Security Department, the Defense Ministry, the Riflemen's Union and other law enforcement institutions, proposed to be increased when redistributing the budget.

May 17, 2010
Baltic News Service

“The current commander of the Riflemen's Union, Juozas Sirvinskas, headed the union for nine years and his tenure has already expired. In Lithuania, the union's commander is proposed by the organization's congress scheduled for May 22. The organization currently has almost 10,000 members.“

April 18, 2014
Baltic News Service

Russia 's aggression in Ukraine has led to an increase in the number of people taking interest in the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union which has seen an increase in applications by a third. 50 candidates turned to the union over the past month, the union's Vilnius Riflemen's Company said, and the majority of them will be sworn in on Friday. New members include businessmen, lawyers, economists, physicists, electric engineers, civil servants, politicians, journalists. In the wake of new threats, Vilnius Riflemen's Company plans to establish new divisions that will be in charge of information and cyber defense and education issues. Established in 1919, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is a state-funded voluntary paramilitary civic self-defense organization assisting the state in ensuring national security.

June 27, 2014
Baltic News Service

Established in 1919, the Lithuanian Riflemen' Union is a state-funded voluntary paramilitary civic self-defense organization assisting the state in ensuring national security.

April 10, 2018
Wikipedia. “Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union”.

50% of members are Young Riflemen (12–18 years old), 40% are Combat Riflemen (19–45 years old) and the remaining are Non-combat Riflemen (…)1. Young riflemen – youth, 11–18 years old. All young riflemen give an honorary pledge when joining the Union. The young riflemen receive training based on a 4 level programme. On each level they study Lithuanian history receive training in leadership, as well military training. At the end of the level they pass an examination, and get a certificate and a sign. Starting in 2002, young riflemen summer camps, as well as summer courses and the international training camp "Žalgiris", are organised every summer. (...)

Garrison/HQ: Kaunas (...) The LRU also includes a riflemen student corporation SAJA. The word “sajaˮ is a Lithuanian neologism, coined by riflemen students for the word “corporationˮ, when they created the first student riflemen corporation in Vytautas Magnus University in 1934. In 2007 a club for riflemen students was established, and on 19 May 2010 it became the Lithuanian riflemen student corporation SAJA. (...) Current membership of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is 11,000 (in the interwar period it was 62,000)

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