Withdrawal of the Russian army from Lithuania in 1993.
On August 31, 1993, the last military echelon of the Russian army passed through Kena railway station, officially ending the nearly 50-year Soviet military occupation of Lithuania.
"The first to leave were the signalmen, later the radio-location unit, and the last soldiers of the unmanned aircraft battalion," recalls Petras Dedūra, commander of the Tauragė battalion. Before the withdrawal, approximately 34.6 thousand soldiers, 1,000 tanks, about 180 aircraft, and 1,901 armored vehicles were deployed on Lithuanian territory.
The withdrawal was not smooth. "We met with the commanders of the Russian military units and agreed that until Moscow decides what to do, we will not be angry," says Dedūra. However, the departing officers kept repeating that they would return. Others stayed in Lithuania and started families with local women.
Nuclear missiles deployed in Lithuania were of particular strategic importance. In 1987, the Tauragė missile base alone had 5 medium-range missiles and 5 launchers. SS-20 missiles, which could be converted into intercontinental missiles and reach even the territory of the United States, were deployed in three bases, where a total of 15 missiles were deployed.
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Cold War Exposition
On 31 December 1962, one of the first underground launch complexes for R-12 ballistic missiles in the Soviet Union, the Dvina underground launch complex, was put into operation
in Plokštinė Forest (Plungė district).
Between 1963 and 1978, four R12 medium-range ballistic missiles (SS-4 Sandal) equipped with a 2.3-megatonne nuclear warhead were deployed at the complex. All the missiles were aimed at Western European countries. This complex, together with similar surface-launched missile bases, formed a single Soviet nuclear arsenal in Lithuania, which was capable of destroying the whole of Europe. In its 16 years of operation, not a single missile was fired, despite the declaration of combat readiness during the Prague Spring in 1968.
After the Soviet soldiers left on 18 June 1978, the poorly guarded military facility was vandalised and looted. In 1993, when the complex was handed over to the Žemaitija National Park Directorate, its restoration began. In 2012, the Cold War exposition was opened. Today, this once very secret and guarded place is open to the public. A historical exposition on the Cold War period is on display at the former missile and equipment control room house. To date, it is the only museum in urope where a preserved underground missile launch silo is on display.
Plokštinė Military Town
In 1962, one of the first underground launch complexes for R-12 ballistic missiles in the Soviet Union, the Dvina, was put into operation in Plokštinė Forest (Plungė district).
A military camp was set up 0.5 km from the missile launch site. It occupied an area of 12 hectares, and approximately 30 buildings were built here for various purposes, including residential houses (barracks), officers’ headquarters, two canteens, a boiler house, a power station, a medical post, a club, a pig farm, warehouses, garages, and other structures.
The Plokštinė underground missile launching complex was operational until 18 June 1978. The Soviet soldiers left the area, taking only their weapons with them. In 1979, the management of the former military complex was transferred to the Republican Association of Agricultural Recreation Facilities of Plungė District, and the Plateliai Pioneer Recreation Camp “Žuvėdra” was established at the military campus site. The site was reconstructed and adapted to the needs of the camp, which operated until 1990. After the restoration of Lithuanian independence, the Pioneer Camp was closed.
Since 1993, the site has been managed by the Žemaitija National Park Directorate. In 2017, many of the structures on the military campus were demolished due to their state of disrepair. Today, there are about ten buildings left at the site, and visitors may see them from the outside. Information boards about the former buildings and their functions have been installed.
Šateikiai ground missile base
In 1960, the Šateikiai Ground Missile Base was built in the forests adjacent to Šateikiai of Plungė district. It was one of four bases of its kind in Lithuania. Four launching pads for R-12 (SS-4 Sandal) medium-range ballistic missiles had been built at the base. Once the signal was received, the missiles could be fired at the European countries of the NATO bloc.
In 1962, during the Caribbean crisis, nuclear missiles were moved from the Šateikiai missile base to central Cuba. The highest level of alert at this base was declared in 1968 during the Prague Spring – the democratic change in Czechoslovakia. At the time, one of the missiles was aimed at the Federal Republic of Germany because the NATO bloc was likely to support the Czechoslovak rebels with its own weapons.
The Šateikiai base was closed in around 1978 because it was considered obsolete and its maintenance – irrational. The closure was also prompted by the fact that by the 1980s it was clear that US intelligence services had identified the locations of stationary missile launch bases. The abandonment of the missile launch site caused structural damage to buildings. The remains of six reinforced concrete warehouses (hangars) are still present on the grounds of the base, as well as bush-covered surface launching pads for rockets.
