Deep in a snowbound forest on the edge of Vilnius, a team of armed men in camouflage was planning an ambush.
“In case our attack fails then the flanks must fall back first, here and here,” one said as he pointed at a makeshift map made from stones and twigs.
The Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union training for guerrilla warfare in the woods
TASS/GETTY IMAGES
With their mismatched uniforms and wide age range, the ten men among the trees were reminiscent of the partisans who fought Soviet forces here from 1944 to 1953, for they were not professional soldiers but volunteer warriors from the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union who will go to the woods in the event of a new occupation — this time by President Putin’s Russia.
They had invited me to observe their training exercise. “We must prepare to