The Barricades

The Barricades
Part of Revolutions of 1989, Singing Revolution and Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Barricade in Jēkaba Street, July 1991
Date 13–27 January 1991 Location Latvia, mainly Riga Result Latvian victory
Belligerents
Latvia Popular Front of Latvia Latvian Supreme Council	Soviet Union Latvian Communist Party Riga OMON [ru; lv] Latvian Interfront
Commanders and leaders
Anatolijs Gorbunovs Ivars Godmanis Andrejs Krastiņš [lv] Aloizs Vaznis [lv] Dainis Īvāns Romualds Ražuks Odisejs Kostanda [lv] Tālavs Jundzis [lv]	Mikhail Gorbachev Boris Pugo Vladimir Antyufeyev Fyodor Kuzmin [ru] Dmitry Yazov Viktor Alksnis Cheslav Mlynnik [ru] Alfrēds Rubiks
Casualties and losses
2 policemen killed 4 civilians killed 4 policemen wounded 10 civilians wounded[nb 1]	At least 1 OMON soldier killed[1]
^ Includes foreign journalists

Eastern Bloc
Republics of the USSR Armenia Azerbaijan Byelorussia Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kirghizia Latvia Lithuania Moldavia Russia Tajikistan Turkmenia Ukraine Uzbekistan
Allied and satellite states Afghanistan Albania (until 1961) Angola Benin Bulgaria China (until 1961) Congo Cuba Czechoslovakia East Germany Ethiopia Grenada Hungary Kampuchea Laos Mongolia Mozambique North Korea Poland (until 1989) Romania Somalia (until 1977) South Yemen Vietnam (North Vietnam, PRG) Yugoslavia (until 1948)
Related organizations Warsaw Pact Comecon Cominform World Federation of Trade Unions World Federation of Democratic Youth
Opposition Anti-Soviet partisans Albania Bulgaria Croatia Poland Romania Serbia Ukraine Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Soviet occupation Estonia Latvia Lithuania Operation Jungle Protests and uprisings Poland 1944–1989 Poznań 1956 1980–89 Plzeň 1953 East Germany 1953 Georgia 1956 Hungary 1956 Novocherkassk 1962 Prague 1968 Invasion Moscow Czechoslovakia 1976–1990 Romania 1977 Kazakhstan 1986 Brașov 1987 Tbilisi 1989 Ukraine 1989–1991 Baku 1990 Lithuania 1991 Riga 1991 Dissent Soviet Poland East Germany to Hong Kong North Korea
Cold War events Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Korean War Secret Speech Sino-Soviet split Albanian–Soviet split De-satellization of the Socialist Republic of Romania Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War Cuban intervention in Angola Afghan War 1980 Moscow Olympics 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Gulf War
Fall Singing Revolution Polish Round Table Agreement Revolutions of 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall January Events Barricades in Latvia Breakup of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Wars End of the Soviet Union Post-Soviet conflicts Fall of communism in Albania Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
v t e

The Barricades (Latvian: Barikādes) were a series of confrontations between the Republic of Latvia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in January 1991 which took place mainly in Riga. The events are named for the popular effort of building and protecting barricades from 13 January until about 27 January. Latvia, which had declared restoration of independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that the Soviet Union might attempt to regain control over the country by force.

After attacks by the Soviet OMON on Riga in early January, the government called on people to build barricades for protection of possible targets (mainly in the capital city of Riga and nearby Ulbroka, as well as Kuldīga and Liepāja). Six people were killed in further attacks, several were wounded in shootings or beaten by OMON. Most victims were shot during the Soviet attack on the Latvian Ministry of the Interior on January 20, while another person died in a building accident reinforcing the barricades. The exact number of casualties among the Soviet loyalists is unknown. Around 32,000 people have received Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 for the participation or support for the event.^[2]