Lithuanian Robertas Povilaitis is ready to sue former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev over the death of his father during the events of 1991 at the Vilnius TV Tower, Baltic News Service reports.

"Since the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Lithuania refused to bring Gorbachev to criminal responsibility. As a citizen, I want to bring him to justice for the mass murder on January 13," Povilaitis said.

He added that Gorbachev's involvement in the events of 1991 as president and commander-in-chief of the forces of the USSR is not fully disclosed in the criminal case, in which 67 people are already in prison.
On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania announced the restoration of the independence of the republic, but the government of the USSR was skeptical about the decision, pointing to a violation of the constitution. In January 1991, unauthorized protests took place in Lithuania, then special forces and airborne units were transferred to the republic, which occupied a number of strategic objects.

In March 2019, the Vilnius Regional Court issued verdicts in the case of the liberation of the TV tower. In Lithuania, they are sure that during those events 14 people died and over 600 citizens were injured. Many of those convicted in the 1991 case live in Russia. Participants in the events of January 1991 from the Soviet side indicate that it was a provocation, and unknown people from the rooftops opened fire on the residents.