I was at the television building the whole night from January 11th to 12th. I hadn't prepared to stay for another day -l was worn out and hadn't had enough sleep. But I was drawn to the RTV by the unusual mood that had risen. Around eight or nine o'clock people from other districts and towns came by bus to join the people from Vilnius. There were bonfires, the ensemble „Armonika" gave a concert by the radio building, and the young people were entertaining themselves. At about 1 a.m. I decided to go to the editorial office of social programs to visit R. Judickas and his colleagues who had been there for more than one night. We listened to the radio and watched TV. I got ready to go home, but somewhere in the city you could hear shots (or explosions). A. Butkevičius announced that the TV tower was being stormed and that the tanks were firing blanks. We were sure that it was a psychological attack. This conviction was strengthened when a column of tanks sped by along Konarskio Street. It seemed like it was going to pass the RTV Center. But suddenly a series of gun shots was heard by the Radio Center. We were on the sixth floor of the new building and we couldn't see anything - we could hear shooting and the words of the radio announcer in the studio who said that the building had been stormed. After some time, tanks appeared in the parking lot across from the new RTV building. They drove through the trees and cars and fired. Soldiers threw explosives at the crowds of people. The unarmed defenders of the RTV building bravely stood their ground. Having scattered from the explosions, the people crowded together again, and soldiers pressed them to the entrance.
Up until the last minute I kept hoping that it was a psychological attack, and that the soldiers would leave after they had scared the people. My last delusions vanished when I saw a TV clip that showed paratroopers already in the TV building and a tank that was intently knocking down the fence around the RTV grounds. The television program was cut off at 2:17. Soon soldiers broke into our office. They ordered us to get out. They mocked that our work had ended. They asked what we had been doing there for so long. „What, are you making a “Panorama" broadcast about us?" jeered the soldiers.
In those extreme conditions they were threatening that they were going to kill every second one of us if even one soldier was shot. Every member of our staff was repeatedly informed about the soldier who had allegedly been killed.
Then, abused by curses and threats, we (R. Judickas, S. Brazgienė, A. Masaitis and I) were thrown out of the office. On the fifth floor, several people were standing with their faces to the wall. We heard a command: „By the wall! Hands up! Legs wider!" There wasn't much space by the wall (on the left), but we had to carry out the officers' command. Cursing, insulting, and threatening us, the officers searched. Nothing was taken from me. Then they ordered: “Hands on your heads! Line up one by one!" There were soldiers with tommy guns on every floor. We were led past them to the first floor. The officer who was leading us told the soldiers on the first floor that we had already been searched and that no guns had been found. By the front door we were ordered to put our hands down. I saw pieces of glass and broken furniture by the guard post. The building was filled with smoke. Outside the people had already scattered, but they didn't leave. On the other side of the street they were chanting “Fascists!" I noticed a cameraman hiding behind a tree. An announcement could be heard from a vehicle which was driving in front of the occupied RTV building that power had been passed into the hands of the National Salvation Committee. From the course of events, I contemplated the possibility that the attacks on the TV tower and the RTV Center had been a part of a coup d'etat.
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 181-183.