... Then a few more shots thundered. From time to time everything disappeared in the thick smoke, car alarms were screeching, the crowd cursed, women cried hysterically.
Later I understood that it was just a deceptive military maneuver to divert the attention of the people defending the tower. The main occupant forces came from the other side. The soldiers acted bravely, as they knew that the crowd wasn't armed.
Then I set out after the first tank which broke down the fence and turned towards the tower. Another searchlight flared at my back, and there were more and more behind that one. Tanks, armored vehicles, and military cars surrounded the tower in a tight circle. Soldiers jumped out of the armored vehicles and opened fire at the office block of the tower. Standing outside, I could easily see which floors the vandals were taking over, as the windows shattered on each floor as they reached it and shots and explosions echoed out. After a few minutes, the wave that was wiping everything out reached the top floor. The Lithuanian flag disappeared from the window.
And outside it seemed like a real battle was going on. The darkness was broken up by the searchlights of tanks. Guns thundered, and machine guns rattled. But the people weren't scared by these horrible sounds and they didn't withdraw.
However, the main people of the attack that night weren't ordinary soldiers -they were officers. Not far from me, a short, stocky lieutenant was raving. He didn't stay still for a minute, and was screaming Russian swears at the people. Then, shouting hysterically: „Ubju, suka!" („I'll kill you, bastard!") he attacked the people who were standing near him with some kind of flexible steel whip. Explosives were thrown at the bigger crowds, and they were shooting automatic guns.
A number of foreign journalists were working in the midst of that tumult. Not expecting anything terrible to happen, Miguel Awegas, a Spanish TV cameraman, went closer to the soldiers. One of them attacked the Spaniard. He began to run. Running after him, the soldier grabbed the handle of his camera. More soldiers ran over, threw the journalist to the ground and started kicking him. The camera was broken. People rushed over and picked the cameraman up. Then an officer ran over and clubbed him in the face. Awegas' face was badly marred, and he lost four teeth.
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 209-210.