Special armed platoon and its secret objectives: the “Vilna Brigade” had to send a message

Artūras Skučas, the creator and leader of ATAS, says that the service was established “through blood”, i. and. he had to overcome great resistance. In late February 1990, the Sąjūdis overwhelmingly won the elections for the Supreme Council. Lithuania’s independence was restored. A. Skučas became an adviser to the Head of State, President of Parliament Vytautas Landsbergis. He was soon offered the post of Head of State Security. The decision to establish such a service had to be made by the Presidium of the Supreme Court, but some of its members opposed it. “They figured we were creating a personal Landsberg Guard,” said Skuč.

The resistance was overcome on June 5. The resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Court was approved. But it was proposed to connect ATAS with the Department of National Defense or the Department of Homeland Security, but A. Skučas disagreed, arguing that it should be an independent institution, not influenced by ministers, etc. “Now the Administration Security Department wants to go back 30 years, to separate itself from the influence of the Interior Ministry,” said the former ATAS commander.

Minimal knowledge, lack of weapons and a lot of desire.

Immediately after the establishment of the ATAS, the first 8 or 10 men were recruited and became bodyguards for the President and Vice President of Parliament. The boys had no special training, but were highly motivated and physically well prepared. Soon, the number of officers in the department began to increase: those who were already serving brought their friends or acquaintances (those who came had to write recommendations to newcomers, the order was that if a newcomer makes money, those who they recommended it they would have to answer).

Raimondas Bučys (now Executive Director of the G4S Lietuva security service) studied at the Pedagogical Institute in 1990. “The pedagogue was a small forge of security guards, several students went to serve at ATAS,” said R. Bučys. In September, he learned of this service from fellow students Rimantas Andriejauskas and Jonas Paulikas, who had been working under the protection of V. Landsbergis since April (before the official establishment of ATAS).

In the fall, senior R. Bučys applied for service at ATAS. “I wanted to participate, contribute to the reconstruction of the state. It was a very masculine self-realization,” he explained.

At the time, the department no longer admitted newcomers directly to personal protection. R. Bučius was offered service in Squad 4, also called a counterattack group. Officers of this platoon were trained to fight terrorists, if necessary, these men had to provide support to the bodyguards, worked in crowds during demonstrations and other mass events, monitored the movement of the Soviet army, and carried out other tasks. specials. homework.

R. Bučys began his service on October 17, 1990. His first jobs: training, coaching, protection of a parliamentary hotel, protection of members of parliament with short-term protection. He had to accompany and protect Russia’s parliamentary lawyer Zita Šličytė, who represented a Lithuanian who had left the Soviet army in a Russian court.

In December of the same year, R. Bučys and three other colleagues (Vaidas Kavaliauskas, Linas Grigaliūnas and Artūras Šaravinas) were transferred from the 4th platoon to personal protection. Guarded AT Lands President V. Landsbergis.

“Minimal knowledge, lack of weapons and a lot of desire,” R. Bučys described his service at the time. At that time, the head of state’s bodyguards did not even have personal weapons assigned solely to them. There were several TT and Makarov pistols shared by turns (only on the eve of January 13 they received two submachine guns).

And some of those pistols were full studs. For example, one of the TTs (manufactured in 1937) made a 20-30 cm error even when shooting from a distance of seven meters at the target.

The first serious bodyguard training took place in 1991. They were organized by Canadian Canadian specials. Kostas Rimša and another Lithuanian have worked in the services for many years. Incidentally, K. Rimša greatly helped other emerging Lithuanian specialties after regaining independence. services, the army, Arus. Later, K. Rimša contributed strongly to the creation of the Armed Forces Special Operations Forces.

When in 1992 the instructors of the Secret Service of EE. USA They came to train bodyguards, they expected to see all the “green” guys, but they found a service that they already knew.

During the events of January, all the bodyguards lived in the parliament building. He simply went out to wash and change. R. Bučys and his three comrades spent the night in an office of about 8-9 square meters: two slept on the floor, one on a small sofa and the other on a table.

In those days, bodyguards received two PCs from the PC. “If he dies, I will be first in line at the vending machine,” said one of the officers. The men had agreed who, in the event of an attack, would take over the weapons of the comrades who died alive.

On January 8, when the KGB held a gathering of Soviet supporters outside of parliament and the crowd stormed the palace in an invasion attempt, Bučys and other bodyguards were on the third floor, near V. Landsberg’s office. Tensions increased, the red crowd changed more and more, he tried to enter the palace and all kinds of rumors were circulating in the city, some of which were also reported on the radio. While talking to her mother on the phone, she was very concerned as she heard rumors that the Russians had already invaded parliament and occupied the first floor. “Mom, don’t worry, I work on the third floor, everything is calm here,” recalled R. Bučys with a smile, as if he were joking with a calm mother.

During the January events, the bodyguards not only lacked weapons, but also had a bulletproof vest. It was addressed to the President of the AT.

According to the former bodyguard, threats from the events of January until the withdrawal of the Russian army were high. Fortunately, the attack was avoided.

“It is a great gift of life that at that time I had to be next to the head of state Vytautas Landsbergis. Relations with both the professor and the former colleagues are excellent and warm so far. If there was a real threat to the state of Lithuania, I think it would be possible to gather a hundred former ATAS officials in a few hours, “R. Bučys told the dolphin on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the service.

A terrible meat grinder was waiting

Darius Jauniškis, the current Director of the Department of State Security (former Commander of the Armed Forces Special Operations Forces), also began his service to Lithuania on ATAS.

In May 1990, he returned from compulsory service in the Soviet Army. “Independence has already been restored, the heart was full of desire to fight for the freedom of Lithuania. Also, like many young people, he wanted action and wind on his face. Therefore, I began to look for where it could be useful for the Fatherland “Said D. Jauniškis.

Soon, his friend Danger Galinis said he was guarding parliament and invited him to visit the MIA sports center, where they trained volunteers guarding the AT. Here D. Jauniškis met “three Saulius” (three names were called ATAS): Saulius Guzevičius (now Colonel of the Armed Forces, former Commander of Special Operations Forces), Saulius Tulevičius (now Director General of G4S Lietuva), Saulius Sipa (until his early death he worked in military intelligence). The sun invited them to join them. In June, D. Jauniškis became an ATAS official. After starting to form platoon 4 (counterattack group), he became a member.

On January 13, D. Jauniškis was in a group of four members of the counterattack group, which, along with other defenders of parliament, was waiting for the enemy in the palace hall. In four of them they had a combat weapon: the TT pistol was entrusted to S. Guzevičius (while studying at the university he worked as a collector, so he was used to such a weapon). D. Jauniškis had their own production nuncs, and D. Galinis and Arūnas Antanaitis were armed with metal bars and knives. They, like the bodyguards, agreed who would take the weapon if S. Guzevičius died.

“So I thought about crushing some Alfa owner or kebab player, taking away the gun … We had no idea which meat grinder we would have been in if the assault had started.” There would have been a lot of blood. People near the Seimas were rescued: Gorbachev did not dare kill thousands of civilians, said D. Jauniškis. – And during the coup we already understood everything clearly. Those who took power in Russia certainly would not have questioned the killings of civilians. But Yeltsin’s rise to power saved him from many sacrifices. “It is true that in the six months from the events of January to August, the Lithuanian coup leaders managed to arm themselves with force, and the attackers would have suffered heavy losses.

An ambush on communist fury

After the collapse of the coup in August 1991, Mykolas Burokevičius and Juozas Jermalavičius, leaders of the loyal Lithuanian communists loyal to Moscow, hid in the Central Committee of the Communist Party (now the Government House) in the center of Vilnius, guarded by the Russian army and the pro-Russian militia. ATAS spec. The group’s leader, S. Tulevičius, was ordered to plan the arrest of these communists. At that time, ATAS already had saturated weapons, and the officers already knew what he was doing.

Armed ATAS officers were stationed in an ambush around the palace, and cars were prepared to block the streets if a communist leader were to be taken away.

At dusk, an SUV of the Russian militia left the palace. Officials in the ambush suspected that a militia car could be trying to evacuate wanted people, so the car was struck by lightning from all sides. ATAS officers armed with machine guns attacked an SUV of the blocked militia. It turned out that there were only two people in the car: a pro-Russian senior militia and an ordinary militia driver.

The older one tried to negotiate, but was pulled out and thrown on the ground. The scared driver tried not to get out of the car, but obeyed after the shots were fired at the beacons on the roof of the SUV. Both were sitting in ATAS cars and were questioned about M. Burokevičius and J. Jermalavičius. And at that moment, one of the volunteers got into the militia SUV and flew to the Seimas: he decided that the enemy car should be transported to a safe place. Such an initiative could very sadly have ended. Russian soldiers who arrived in parliament in the same car recently killed volunteer Artūras Sakalauskas at the end of the coup. After the incident, MPs could have shot a car with many bullets without much clarification, but luckily someone recognized the driver in time.

On the same night, D. Jauniškis and S. Guzevičius, who were ambushed by the Central Committee, noticed that the same militia SUV was approaching the nearby Opera and Ballet Theater, people in uniform with Russian helmets came out and disappeared. behind the bushes. D. Jauniškis was armed with a pistol, S. Guzevičius had a machine gun. “I thought, now it will be …” said D. Jauniškis. But after a while they heard: “Men, here they are.” It turned out that they were our policemen, led by Viktoras Grabauskas (the current Aro commander).

And the communist leader was finally deported by the Russian army. Then he transported them to Belarus. However, in early 1994, the Lithuanian security forces managed to transport M. Burokevičius and J. Jermalavičius from Minsk. In Vilnius, they were sentenced to many years in prison.

Sciences in france

1992 At the beginning of the 19th century, A. Skučas received an unexpected French offer: “Give 8-9 biographies of your best men, we will send them to France to study.” The French government has sent a formal offer to train ATAS officials. The management selected nine officers: three from personal protection, three from the fourth platoon (D. Jauniškis, S. Guzevičius and Gintarius Šatkus) and three from other ATAS units.

In the summer they went to France. “I found myself in the West for the first time, it seemed like I was dreaming,” D. Jauniškis shared his memories.

The Lithuanians spent the first month and a half in a cadet school, where they studied French intensively. During that time, they adapted to the French lifestyle. This was followed by basic training at the huge Satori base near Paris. The GIGN National Gendarmerie intervention group is also training there, having carried out many hostage releases and other specifications. operations (mainly in Africa). GIGN instructors (all with extensive combat experience) began teaching the Lithuanians, who, incidentally, were no longer ignorant, had already been trained by the Americans and K. Rimša.

Initially, the instructors tested the skills and fears of the Lithuanians (for example, they had to crawl through a narrow pipe buried underground; this way they check if a person has claustrophobia, they had to scale the tower walls, verify fear of heights, etc.).

ATAS officers studied the interventions for several months. The training covered a wide range of topics: operations planning, assault, negotiation, speed shooting, extreme driving, reconnaissance (which killed us in French swamps and snowshoes during the day), personal protection and more. Incidentally, D. Jauniškis and S. Guzevičius then applied the lessons learned in France by creating the Special Operations Forces of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, which then carried out many successful operations in Afghanistan.

While studying in France, the Seimas elections took place in Lithuania, in which the Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania (so-called Communist Party of Lithuania) won. “Their studies ended after the elections, they did not know what would happen to them, maybe the communists would shoot them,” said A. ATkučas, the former ATAS commander.

Knocked out the “Vilna Brigade”

According to ATAS chief A. Skučas, not only people and organizations opposed to the Lithuanian state posed a threat, but also the simplest and most aggressive mental patients, of whom there were about two hundred in Vilnius at the time alone.

For example, in June, the entrances to the AT Palace (ATAS had not yet taken over the security of the building), which were not yet heavily guarded at the time, were not closed, and a mental patient broke through the guard screaming that it would kill to V. Landsbergis. He climbed the stairs to the third floor, where the President’s office was, and was chased by police officers on duty in the lobby. An aggressive intruder was caught by V. Landsbergis’s office.

ATAS officials have repeatedly had to deal with the Vilna Brigade, which was in the capital at the time. The bandits, against whom the police were defenseless at the time, had even stated in the press: “We rule Vilna.” But the ATAS men were spit on criminal “authorities”.

At the time, there was only one good hotel in Vilnius: Lietuva. The Vilna Brigade felt at home here, constantly furious in the hotel bars.

This hotel welcomed guests from the State and was guarded by ATAS. According to A. Skučas, once while guarding US guests. USA And Europe in the hotel, the brigades began to rage there again. ATAS officials held no ceremony with them: six or eight brigades, including gang leader Boris Dekanidze, were deposited on the hotel lobby floor. They were all taken to the police station.

The reaction of the police officers, upon seeing what they brought, perfectly illustrates the relationship of the law enforcement officers with the “Vilna Brigade” at that time: the police officers fled the police station. According to A. Skučas, ATAS officers had to unlock the police station cameras themselves and banditize them. Shortly after the ATAS men left, the police released the brigades.

A few days later, the brigades fired a personal car from the ATAS officer Arūnas Antanaitis in the street, the bullets pierced the can.

Then a message was sent to the “brigade”: “Do you want us to go back to bed?” The following day, the brigades took the bulletproof car, repaired it, and returned it. Since then, criminals have avoided confusing ATAS men under their feet.

The department was feared not only by the criminal world. According to A. Skučas, he later had to speak to more than one kebeber, they told him that he was very afraid of ATAS, because these officers could take extremely strict measures.

Grandma took the machine out of her bag

A. Skučas recounted in considerable detail how the department was armed.

After the establishment of ATAS, the head of the service visited the USA. USA And several countries in Western Europe (Switzerland, Great Britain, etc.) to ask for weapons, but Lithuania was not yet an officially recognized state, so these requests received negative responses.

After the restoration of independence, the Soviet Minister Marijonas Misiukonis was in charge of the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior (MoI). The country’s new government, therefore, sought to reduce anti-Lithuanian sentiment in the militia, where many Russian speakers worked. A. Skučas says that almost every week he sent letters to M. Misiukonis with the signature of the President of the Supreme Court asking ATAS to assign weapons from the Arsenal of the Ministry of the Interior. After all, around August 1990, he received five Makarov pistols and 16 rounds each. One went to A. Skučas, four to the bodyguards. There were still some hunting rifles in the house that the volunteers took from their parents or grandparents.

On January 11 or 12, 1991, when the probability of armed clashes was already very real, Vilius Baldišis, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, called A. Skučas: “We will give away everything in our warehouse”. From the ATAS bank he received four automatic PCs with many ammunition and 15-20 TT pistols with ammunition. It was the first slightly more serious disarmament before January 13.

ATAS tried to take the weapons from the Lithuanian film studio (those weapons could be used again for shooting), from DOSAAF (Soviet organization “Voluntary Society for the Support of the Army, Aviation and Navy”), but it turned out that the weapons had already been removed by the police. “Misiukonis passed us by,” said A. Skučas with disappointment. But in one place, ATAS surpassed Misiukonis: it managed to empty the warehouse of the only weapons store “Nature, fishing, hunting”. The store manager himself called on parliament: “Come quickly until the militia has taken everything.” On the eve of January 13, ATAS brought many hunting rifles and ammunition from that store, a full minibus.

After the January 13 massacre, people brought many different weapons to Parliament. A. Skučas still remembers his grandmother, who took the legendary WWII German machine MP 40 (also called “smileher” by the creator’s name) and an ammunition packet out of the knitted bag: “This is my father, it may be necessary. “

In the summer of 1991, rubles were replaced in Lithuania by temporary money, the so-called cars. With this money, ATAS illegally bought many weapons from Russian soldiers before the coup, who stole everything they could from their warehouses. Many machine guns and other weapons, including anti-tank grenade launchers, were purchased through the fence.

In June 1991, the weapons were officially purchased abroad for the first time. 100 Glock pistols were purchased in Austria. However, the borders were still controlled by the Russians, so the weapons had to be transported in secret. The pistols were loaded onto a semi-trailer of a tractor that was transporting powdered milk from Austria to Moscow. The tug successfully arrived in Moscow and, on his return to Austria, visited Vilnius, arrived in parliament, and ATAS officers collected their pistols.

After the coup, the weapons were already bought and delivered without problems. But you are also without adventure. 1992 A batch of Uzi machine guns was purchased in Israel, weapons were brought to Lithuania, but there was very little ammunition, because at that time a munitions factory exploded in Israel. A little later, the necessary ammunition was purchased in the Czech Republic.

Incidentally, the newly established ATAS could at least enjoy good media. In June 1990, Lithuanians in the United States and Canada recruited 30,000 for the new service. dollars for which modern radio equipment was purchased in Japan. It was special because at that time the Russian army did not have the technical capacity to block this connection. The equipment was brought to Poland, and from there it was delivered to Lithuania by our diplomats in parts. “If we hadn’t had that connection, a lot of very bad things could have happened,” said the former ATAS commander.

An end that has become a new beginning.

1993 After A. Brazauskas was elected President, the left-wing ATAS in the Seimas was abolished and replaced by the Administration Protection Department (SAD) under the Ministry of the Interior. “It just came to our attention then. About half of ATAS officers moved to SAD, others said they would not serve the communists,” said A. Skučas, who sighed deeply. After the abolition of ATAS, some officers transferred to the Liaison Office of the Department of Homeland Security, which provided liaison with the government, some former ATAS officers established a security division in the Ministry of Finance, and some later joined the army.

ATAS officers who transferred to the army established a Special Operations Force. A few years later, the unit became a Special Operations Force (SOP). The then military leadership understood the need for such a force and was not mistaken: former ATAS members created such specifications. forces in Afghanistan that NATO allies constantly admired Lithuanian soldiers and their combat operations.