At about 2 a.m. on January 13, I was by the tower with my 14 year old cousin and two of my friends. The people were all excited because it was announced that tanks and other military vehicles were approaching. In ten minutes tanks neared the tower from the lower part of the hill. They made into a circle beginning with Cosmonaut Prospect and the bridge, and ending at the entrance of the road to the tower. People had accumulated below by the entrance to the tower, others had surrounded the tower itself, and others had gathered on the bank behind the fence. They looked at the military vehicles below and continued singing and chanting “Lithuania!" Suddenly the first shot rang out from the barrel of a tank. There was a terrible noise. Some 4 violent shots followed, and series of sub-machine gun fire echoed. Another tank shot thundered from the other side. After running over a sand truck, a person, and several cars, they crawled over from the other side along the edge of the forest and surrounded us. They approached us slowly, scaring the people with their searchlights. They were speaking in Russian from a tank: „Liudi, vy obmanuty! Uchodite domoj!" (“People! You have been deceived. Go home!") We were already right by the tower itself with our hands joined.
I told my young cousin to go to a safer place, and we stood in the first row by the door to the tower. Tanks circled around, spreading smoke the entire time, and then they stopped. Not moving, we all chanted: “Lithuania!" The tanks fired again. Not everyone's ear drums could handle the noise. Soldiers with guns and helmets got out of the tanks. Several bombs were thrown over us (apparently it was the same on the other side of the tower as well). Exploding, they broke a lot of windows, and a number of people were injured from the falling glass. We saw that people were falling, but couldn't figure out if they were injured or just scared. Sub machine guns were crackling, tanks were thundering, and windows were rattling. We jumped out from between two tanks. A woman across from me fell under a tank. She was shouting wildly because she couldn't get up. I grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her aside. I turned around and saw a horrible picture: all of the windows had been broken out, and inside, series of sub machine gun fire rattled non-stop. Phosphorescent tracer bullets were being shot from the windows. We understood one thing - they were shooting real bullets. No one had expected such cruelty and such brutality. We ran to look for my cousin. Once we found him we went back. There were still some people in the square by the tower. A green flare was fired. We realized that meant that the tower had finally been taken. After turning to the crowd, the tanks began driving everyone away. The square was dark. Tommy guns rattled. A voice rang out from a tank: “Brothers and sisters, we have brought you democracy. You are the same as we are: peasants and workers. You were misled. From this minute, Parliament has lost its power." To hear these words, accompanied by shooting, was more difficult for everyone than any physical pain. Everyone covered their ears and shouted „No!"
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 218-219.