Vilnius University fires Russian professor for denying Soviet occupation of Lithuania

Vilnius University terminated its contract with Russian professor Andrei Desnitsky because of his ten-year-old publications. He has taught Russian literature there since October 2022. the LRT radio station about this . told The dean of the Faculty of Philology, Professor Mindaugas Kvetkauskas,

The publication notes that before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Desnitsky lived in Moscow and published articles in which he denied the occupation of the Baltic countries, including Lithuania, by the Soviet Union.

In May 2023, LRT published an analysis of Desnitsky’s old publications. Allegedly, the professor, until 2014, advocated holding a referendum on the annexation of Crimea to Russia. And on August 17, the radio station presented excerpts from an article about the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries, which Desnitsky wrote in 2012 for the Pravmir website. In it, the professor denied the occupation and wrote that the military and the local population did not resist, and some even welcomed the Soviet troops.

“Naturally, I was then under the influence of Kremlin propaganda, its favorite trick: “yes, of course, Stalin was terrible, but look at...” - and in this article of 2012 I broadcast this, alas. And this is probably not the only example of how I did this, thinking that I was independently reasoning about subtle and important matters. And then 2014 came. And then 2022. And it became completely clear where this rhetoric was leading and how dangerous it was to succumb to it,” commented on the situation on Facebook. Desnitsky himself

He also wrote that his views have changed over the past ten years. According to him, he “sincerely regrets” that article, and also apologizes to everyone “who is ready to accept them.”

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