Russians in Lithuania | True Lithuania
True Lithuania

Russians

Although Russians now are only Lithuania's *second* largest minority (5,88%) it certainly is the most visible one. A tourist who visits Lithuania is far more likely to hear Russian music in restaurants and bars, see Russian TV stations turned on than those in any other of the Lithuania's minority languages.

One reason is because the population of Russians in Lithuania is mostly urban and centered in the tourist cities of Vilnius and Klaipėda where they make 15% and 23% of all citizens respectively. Additionally, the town of Visaginas built for workers of the Soviet nuclear power plant in the 1980s is over 55% percent Russian. Very few Russians live in smaller towns and villages.

A Russian bar in Vilnius. The urban popularity of Russian music and media exceeds Lithuania's Russian community, but still, they aren't mainstream. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The first Russians came to Lithuania as early as the 18th century – these were Old Believer refugees from the Russian Empire. Another wave of Russians came when Lithuania itself was integrated into the Russian Empire and the czar attempted a policy of russification. Entire Russian villages supplanted Lithuanian ones in this period of the 19th century while the Russian government-officials and soldiers settled in the cities.

Still, however, after World War 1 and 1918 Lithuanian independence, Russians made up only 2,3% of Lithuania’s people. Their share increased fourfold under the Soviet occupation when a state-sponsored campaign resettled many people from the other Soviet republics to the newly built micro-districts surrounding major Lithuanian cities. Every new factory had many Russian workers and (especially) executives.

This colonization was more conservative in Lithuania than in Latvia and Estonia (where over a quarter of the population is now ethnic Russians and the main cities became Russian-majority by the 1980s). After 1990 independence the Lithuanian government (unlike those of Latvia and Estonia) offered citizenship to every person who lived in Lithuania by the time of the dissolution of the USSR – regardless of ethnicity, languages spoken or family history.

Many older ethnic Russian nationals of Lithuania, therefore, do not speak Lithuanian language let alone English. This included some prominent figures in business and the public life. That generation, however, is fading away, whereas the new generation of Russians (educated in the schools of independent Lithuania) typically speak both Lithuanian and a western foreign language in addition to their native Russian.

While the local Russian youth is well integrated, the Soviet past still causes some friction. Most of the Soviet Union's politicians were Russian. So were the officers and soldiers (including those stationed in Lithuania), as well as the members of NKVD Vilnius HQ (responsible for genocide). Russians, their language, and culture enjoyed a privileged status in the Soviet society (at the expense of minorities, among them Lithuanians). While most of those responsible for genocide left Lithuania after independence, many remaining Russians regard the Soviet Union quite positively (something that is not understandable to the relatives of Soviet genocide victims).

People celebrating Soviet victory day at Antakalnis cemetery in Vilnius, the city's largest burial place for Soviet soldiers. They lay red flowers at the graves, carry images of soldier relatives and the controversial St. George strip symbol

Mostly ethnic Russian people celebrating the Soviet victory day at Antakalnis cemetery in Vilnius, the city's largest burial place for Soviet soldiers. Given that the Soviet victory in World War 2 meant decades of Soviet occupation for Lithuania, such activities are extremely controversial among Lithuanians. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Half of Lithuania’s Russians are Orthodox, about 12% are Old Believers, additional 12% are Roman Catholics. Russians are also among the most irreligious groups of people in Lithuania with 25% being atheists, although irreligion is declining.

See also: Top 10 Russian sights in Lithuania

Article written by Augustinas Žemaitis

Click to learn more about Lithuania: Ethnicities Leave a comment
Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)
  1. Hello,

    I have a 1989 Lithuanian Ethnic Population Statistics.
    According to the 1989 Lithuanian Ethnic Population Statistics:

    1989 Total Population was 3,674,800 people.
    1):Lithuanian, 79.6%; 2):Russian, 9.4%; 3):Polish, 7.0%; 4):Belarussian, 1.7%; 5):Ukrainian, 1.2%; etc..

    “After 1990 independence, the Lithuanian government offered citizenship to every person who lived in Lithuania by the time of the dissolution of USSR – regardless of ethnicity, languages spoken or family history.”

    Currently, Russians are the second largest minority(6.3%) after polish(6.65%).
    I wonder why Russian population decreased from 9.4%(1989) to 6.3%(current).

    After the 2008 Great Recession, are Lithuanian Russians emigrated to Western Europe such as United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany?

    Is there any reason why ethnic Russian population in Lithuania decreased from 9.4%(1989) to 6.3%(current)?

    Thank you.

    • Hello,

      In fact, two countries offered citizenships (and residence) to most Russians of Lithuania ~1990: Lithuania and Russia. Approximately two thirds chose Lithuania, one third chose Russia.

      Why so many chose Russian citizenship and moving to Russia?

      As the article says, most of the Russian community at the time were Soviet settlers, that is, people who came to live to Lithuania relatively recently (before World War 2 only ~2,3% of Lithuania’s people were ethnic Russians). Most of them were born in Russia, had the majority of relatives in Russia and felt a closer attachement to Russia than Lithuania.

      It should be noted that migrations to another area ruled by the Soviet Union were not always voluntary (one could have been sent to work in Lithuania by the Soviet authorities).

      Additionally, living in Lithuania under Soviet occupation was little different from living in Russia. It used to be very easy to visit Russia (e.g. plane tickets were subsidized), also, all public signs in Lithuania would be in Russian. In fact Soviet Union was generally regarded to be Russia both locally and abroad.

      However after Lithuanian independence (1990) all Lithuanian citizens (including ethnic Russians) would have needed to cross two state borders to go to Russia and also get a visa. Moreover, while learning Lithuanian was not required, Lithuanian was now the official language, so e.g. the public signs would be Lithuanian. And most Soviet settlers did not speak Lithuanian (this even included Russian kids who were born in Lithuania as Lithuanian language was not seriously taught in the Soviet-established network of Russian medium-of-instruction schools in Lithuania, whereas Russian language was a necessary subject to all non-Russians).

      It should be noted that the same trend (for the same reasons) of decline ~1990 affected other Soviet-expanded ethnic minorities, such as the Ukrainians (declined 1,2% to 0,55%) and Belarusians (declined 1,7% to 1,2%).

      However, it did not affect the traditional minorities that generally felt a closer bond to Lithuania and had lived there for their lifetimes (e.g. Poles).

      The mass emigration after 2004 (related to joining European Union rather than to Great Recession) indeed also had a somewhat greater affect on the “newer communities”, but the difference was relatively minor as many ethnic Lithuanains and the “established minorities” emigrated as well.

      • Thank you for your explanation about settlers (Russians, Ukrainians, etc.) in Lithuania under Soviet occupation.

        Now, I understand the different circumstances between Russian residents and Polish residents in Lithuania.

        I have learned a little bit more about Lithuania today.
        Thank you again.


Cancel reply

No trackbacks yet.