...There was a rumbling below, motors roared, and not very clearly we heard over the radio - there are a lot of people, everyone's wrought up - as if Landsbergis had called Gorbachev. There was a sense of relief: they were there to scare us, but had already received the order to withdraw. But unfortunately, the tanks turned south, and as far as I understood, rolled up to the tower and began to surround it, and us as well. Tanks, armored vehicles. While they were shooting below, lights went on in the windows of neighboring houses and cameras were flashing. A lot of people ran over. At first I was in the outer row, but later I found myself in the middle of that human circle. We saw tanks and military vehicles coming through the grove, 5-10 meters from the people, and on top of the them stood paratroopers with their guns ready to fire. Soldiers were running in between the moving vehicles and our human shield. They came closer. But we didn't withdraw. They began to shoot their rifles. They fired and within seconds glass fell. Then we moved away from the tower, but our hands were still joined, and we chanted: “Lithuania, Lithuania! Freedom! Fascists!" They fired some more and the windows rattled. We realized that we could get hurt from the falling glass, but we had no idea that the tank would run us over. To us it was as if the tank wasn't even dangerous... While all of our attention was focused ahead of us, I didn't even notice that there was a tank a couple of meters away that had appeared from the left. The people in front of it scattered, leaving an empty space. I jumped farther away from it, but it was moving slowly, at walking speed. Then I saw some man cover the tank's looking hole with his cap, while another was leaning on the front of the tank. I had served in the Soviet Army and was a member of the Sąjūdis Reform Movement. As much as you can sing about your love for your homeland, you must try to stop... As I'm a cautious man, I chose the safest place - front and center before the tank. I grabbed on, and together with several men, leaned on the tank. But the tank was moving towards us and I realized that it wasn't going to stop - it was just going to drag us under. It hit me that I should run. Now that I think back, I realize that I didn't run as I should have. I should have turned around and run straight, and only then should I have slipped to the side. But I stepped aside right away and got caught under the tracks. I saw that I should step back, that it was going to run me over, when suddenly it seemed like I was in a dream: I'm sleeping, my legs are crushed, I can't move. I'm lying on my stomach, there are 3 other people lying near me, I am the fourth - the last. Our legs are pinned down, we're lying with our faces turned away from the tower, and we're screaming with all our might. I tried to lean on my arms - the pain wasn't the kind that knocks you out. A woman was near me and there were two young men a bit farther away. If only it would just run me over faster... that was my only thought. The people around me were also shouting, motioning... The tank stopped... It stopped and those seconds lasted forever. I had another thought: if the tank turned and moved it would crush my abdomen - so let it crush my entire body so that I don't feel the pain in my legs. But luckily, it drove away. I quickly rolled aside, trying to get further away. There were lights from all directions - searchlights showing that they were all driving at me...
I don't know how many meters I had rolled when a young man grabbed me and dragged me - my head down and my legs up - with all his might. Some others, shocked by that terrible sight, grabbed my arms. By the way, when we were pinned under the tank and people tried to pull our arms to get us out, we asked them not to do that because our legs were crushed and they wouldn't be able to get them out... I do remember, when they had just begun to carry me from the tower, my legs freed, I realized that I was still alive. I can't really say that it was happiness - it was more a feeling of relief that after all that I was still living...
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 115-116.