Lithuania Holds State Funeral For Men Executed In Anti-Tsarist Uprising

The remains of men executed during a failed 1863-64 uprising against the Russian Empire were buried following a state funeral in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius. The Lithuanian and Polish presidents, Gitanas Nauseda and Andrzej Duda, were joined on November 22 by Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Ihar Petrishenka for the ceremony at the St. Stanislav Basilica.The remains were unearthed during a recent construction project in Lukiskes Square in Vilnius. A total of 21 men were executed by hanging or shooting between June 1863 and March 1864 for various acts of resistance against tsarist rule. They included two commanders of the uprising, Zygmunt Sierakowski and Kastus Kalinouski. The rebellion, which became known as the January Uprising, started in Warsaw, Poland, and spread to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The duchy comprised territory in what is now parts of Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine.