Lithuanians and Latvians were killed as Soviet troops moved forcefully against the 2 Baltic republics. The Soviet defense ministry said, January 7, that it would send thousands of troops to 7 republics to seize draft dodgers and enforce conscription. Pres. Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania said the Kremlin was "looking for bloodshed," January 7, and on January 8, the Latvian parliament condemned the troop move as an "invasion" of the Baltic republics. Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev told Lithuania, January 10, that it must accepted Soviet central authority. In Lithuania on January 10, supporters of the Moscow government went on strike. Hundreds of unarmed supporters of independence surrounded communication facilities in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, January 13. Soviet paratroopers fired on the people, some of whom were crushed by tanks. Fifteen people were killed and 140 were injured. Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Federation, and the 3 Baltic republics signed a mutual-security agreement, January 13, binding all the signatories to defend any that were attacked by the Kremlin. Yeltsin denounced the killings in Lithuania, and on January 14, called on Russian troops to refuse to shoot civilians. Gorbachev, January 14, said he had not given the order to attack the demonstrators. The Supreme Soviet, January 14, confirmed Finance Minister Valentin Pavlov as the new premier (his predecessor, Nikolai Ryzhkov, had fallen ill), and on January 15, confirmed Aleksandr Bessmertnykh as the new foreign minister. In Vilnius, January 16, as many as 500,000 people attended a funeral for 9 of those killed 3 days earlier. In Moscow, January 20, 100,000 to 300,000 people demonstrated against the crackdown in the Baltics. Just hours later, in Riga, the capital of Latvia, Soviet para-military troops stormed a government building; 4 Latvians were killed.
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