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In late spring, the flow of messages to the Soviet leadership intensified about the declining discipline of the Baltic troops, especially the spread of news about the impending rotation and the world situation in Western Europe, which could be judged by the occupation Soviet Baltic military. The plan was drawn up in less than the first two weeks of June.
Let’s start with the chronological sequence of events.
1940 June 24. The Soviet ambassador to Lithuania, N. Pozdniakov, informed Moscow that on April 24. (That is, a month ago!) The tanker Nosov with a rifle escaped from the post.
May 18 Another Šmagonec tank truck escaped. Although Soviet military leaders did not ask Soviet diplomats for help in finding deserters, they tried to deal with their forces and with the help of the Lithuanian police, Pozdniakov was convinced that the Lithuanian authorities were hiding the refugees. A note on this content, supplemented by accusations, as if it were “provocative actions by individual Lithuanian bodies,” was delivered to the Lithuanian ambassador in Moscow on Saturday, May 25.
May 26 On the night of (Sunday), the Lithuanian ambassador in Moscow replied that all the country’s institutions were ready to carry out a thorough investigation of the allegations. While the Soviet soldiers disappeared Schmagonec and Pisarev on May 27. Somehow it turned out that he had already returned to his units, however this did not prevent Deputy Defense Deputy Commissioner A. Loktionov, who arrived in Kaunas on the morning of the meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister J. Urbšis , expressed outrage at Lithuania’s “incompatible” behavior. The Soviet leadership had no perception problems due to the fact that the oil tanker Nosov, which supposedly disappeared in April, simply disappeared: it turned out that there was no such oil tanker at all, and its place was replaced not by the disappeared but by the Pisarev who returned.
It turned out that there was no such tanker at all.
It is difficult to assess whether may 27th. During the visit, A.Loktionov’s claims to Lithuania that he did not comply with the provisions of the Mutual Assistance Agreement were dictated due to more serious suspicions that it was only a negotiating position to improve his position by discussing other issues. The second hypothesis is supported by the fact that without the stated claims and accepted assurances from the Lithuanian side that the country’s police will do everything possible to discover the circumstances of the disappearance of the Red Army, this issue was not discussed during the meeting.
The Soviets filed claims for the kidnapping of Soviet soldiers only in Lithuania. A different scenario was applied to Estonia: it was accused of being in a bad mood. Soviet official “Pravda”, May 28 In the publication Political Moods in Estonia, the latter was accused of following anti-German policies and supporting England, France and the German occupation of Norway, the German invasion of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands as aggression, etc.
The first to feel the effects of such a publication were the country’s representatives at the Estonian book fair in Moscow at the time, who “had to return home immediately” due to the changed attitude of their Soviet colleagues.
The Soviets made no claim to Latvia.
It is very interesting that the Soviets made no claim to Latvia.
To reduce tensions, the Lithuanian government may 27th He formed a commission to investigate the allegations of the USSR. In its conclusions, the Commission acknowledged that Lithuania’s allegations of breach of contract were completely unfounded.
Solve the problem of searching for missing Soviet soldiers June 7th Lithuanian Prime Minister A. Merkys visited Moscow. Molotov presented him with a new package of accusations of dishonest treatment of the USSR, kidnappings and other nameless provocations, excessive protests, arrests of local personnel hired by Soviet military units, etc. Merkis’s explanations were rejected, and the Soviet side saw the “political police”, the Department of State Security, as the main culprit.
Interestingly, the Soviet side also organized an extensive cultural program, transported to exhibitions, shows, etc., which accused A. Merkis of accusing his unfair behavior and Foreign Minister J. Urbšis, who joined.
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