Solidarity of the National-Democratic Forces of Ukraine and Lithuania in Response to the Reactionary Policy of the USSR in 1990–1991

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyse the forms and expressions of solidarity between the national-democratic forces of Ukraine and Lithuania during the reactionary policy of the USSR in 1990–1991, in order to preserve this important page in Ukrainian and Lithuanian history in collective memory. Methods. The research is grounded in the methodological concept of entangled history and employs both general scientific and specialised historical methods, chronological, systemic, and retrospective approaches, as well as the method of comparative analysis. Results and Conclusions. The article outlines the process of solidarity between the national-democratic forces of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania in response to the repressive policy of the USSR in 1990–1991. Special emphasis is placed on the support expressed by Ukrainian democratic forces for Lithuania‘s restoration of independence from 11 March 1990 through to autumn 1991. Within this context, particular attention is devoted to the events related to the USSR‘s economic blockade of Lithuania from April to June 1990, and the Soviet leadership‘s attempt to restore control over Lithuania by force in January 1991.

Attention is drawn to the various forms and methods of support, such as letters of solidarity marking Lithuania‘s independence, public rallies and congresses, media publications, and visits by parliamentary delegations to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania in January 1991, when Soviet security forces were responsible for the deaths of Lithuanian civilians. Simultaneously, the article presents examples of support shown by Lithuanian national-democratic forces for Ukraine‘s sovereignty processes. These include expressions of solidarity during Ukraine‘s first democratic parliamentary elections in March 1990 and the arrest of Ukrainian dissident and MP Stepan Khmara on 17 November 1990, when he attempted to prevent a military parade in Kyiv.

The main forms of support included congratulatory letters to the democratically elected Ukrainian parliament and statements condemning political persecution. Finally, the article highlights the official process of mutual recognition of state independence in August 1991 and underscores the historical significance of such cross-national ties between the two closely connected peoples in their respective struggles for statehood and independence.