This text is excerpted from Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review, Vol. 44 (2026).
As Russia’s war against Ukraine reshapes Europe’s security thinking, Lithuania is doubling down on a whole-of-society approach to defence. The Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (Lietuvos šaulių sąjunga, LŠS) sits at the heart of that effort, bridging civilians and the armed forces, building resilience, and translating lessons from Ukraine into practical capabilities at home. In this conversation, Colonel Linas Idzelis, Commander of the LŠS, explains the Union’s mission, its cooperation with state institutions, the challenges of rapid growth, and what “total defense” should mean in the 21st century. Questions by Linas Kojala.
Linas Kojala: The Riflemen’s Union has a long history and strong traditions. How would you describe the current state of the LŠS? How do you understand its core mission in the context of today’s geopolitical events? What should international partners know about the Union?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: The LŠS played an important historical role in maintaining Lithuanian state, developing national culture, sport, and military affairs; its members actively participated in the wars of independence in 1919–1920, in organizing and carrying out the bringing back of the Klaipėda region to Lithuania in 1923, and in resisting the occupation of the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. In 1989, when the LŠS was re-established, its members effectively participated in the defense of the restored independence of the Republic of Lithuania in 1991.
Service as a rifleman is one of the ways for citizens of the Republic of Lithuania to prepare to exercise their constitutional right and duty to defend the Homeland, enshrined in the first part of Article 139 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, and in peacetime to prepare for total defense.
In modern Lithuania, the LŠS has a unique role in preparing citizens for total defense and in strengthening societal resilience and the will to resist. By the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, the LŠS is tasked to participate both in armed defense and in unarmed civil resistance; therefore, the Union’s multifaceted involvement in national defense–strengthening LŠS combat platoons, garrison and specialized units, and unarmed resistance capacities–is an essential condition for ensuring the LŠS role in implementing the principle of total defense.
The LŠS contributes to voluntary military training of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and to promoting service in the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LK), enhancing the authority of the LK and the prestige of military service, and strengthening society’s ties with institutions of the national defence system (KAS).
The LŠS devotes considerable attention to developing young riflemen by expanding youth units, organizing camps for young riflemen and for schoolchildren who are not members of the LŠS during school holidays. Since 2022, the LŠS has organized the Civics and Defense Skills Course (PGĮK). From the 2024–2025 academic year this course became mandatory for all 9th-grade students in general education schools, thus contributing not only to the civic and patriotic education of young riflemen but also of other Lithuanian students, as well as to preparedness for emergencies and crises. From the 2025–2026 academic year we plan to expand PGĮK to grades 7–8, and from 2028–2029 to grades 5–6.
Since the start of the Russian Federation’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine in 2022, the LŠS has become one of the main organizations in Lithuania developing unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities. Lessons identified from Russia’s war in Ukraine were one of the key conditions for the LŠS to begin developing cyber defense, information support, medical and other specialized units in order to support KAS and other state and municipal institutions and agencies.
Linas Kojala: What is the relationship between the LŠS and state institutions–the armed forces and security services?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: At present, the LŠS makes a significant contribution to ensuring national security by assisting state and municipal institutions in guaranteeing the performance of vital state functions in crises and emergencies and, if necessary, during mobilization and wartime.
The LŠS provided assistance during the COVID-19 crisis and the surge in illegal migration; it supported the Government Chancellery’s National Crisis Management Center, the Lithuanian Police, and the State Border Guard Service (VSAT under the Ministry of the Interior) during the NATO summit. Currently, the LŠS is actively cooperating with the LK and VSAT to counter the threat posed by contraband balloons to civil aviation and public safety.
Under the Law on Martial Law of the Republic of Lithuania, LŠS combat platoons become an integral part of the Armed Forces (GP) upon the declaration of martial law. Proposals have been submitted to amend the laws so that during martial law not only combat platoons but also LŠS garrison and specialized units would be included in the GP.
Linas Kojala: What mission should the LŠS perform in the event of a military threat to Lithuania? How do you respond to the often-heard public question: I don’t know what I should do in the face of danger–where to go, whom to ask, whom to call?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: A qualitative survey of citizens open to LŠS membership conducted in 2024 identified that a large part of society still does not know the place of the LŠS in the country’s overall defense structure and does not understand the activities and benefits of the LŠS in peacetime. For many citizens, the LŠS still appears to be a closed paramilitary organization with no place for those who cannot or do not want to participate in armed resistance. Unclear LŠS functions and a lack of understanding about the spectrum of LŠS activities do not allow the organization to attract candidates who are not drawn to uniforms and armed activities.
We seek to strengthen society’s understanding of the concept of total defense and the citizen’s role in it. As the main organization responsible for preparing and mobilizing society for total defense, the LŠS assumes the responsibility to ensure that citizens are motivated to participate in the armed or unarmed defense of the country and to find their place within the total defense system. At the same time, the LŠS is taking steps to strengthen citizens’ understanding of geopolitical threats and their possible consequences, and of the importance of total defense for the state’s future and the fate of the nation.
We seek to shape and maintain a positive image of the LŠS as a modern, open, and socially necessary organization. The LŠS is presented as an organization open to all citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, living both in Lithuania and abroad, uniting people of different views, religions, ages, and genders, and having a clear vision and defined functions within the total defense structure.
We aim to clarify the two main directions of LŠS activity–armed and unarmed resistance–indicating the functions of each and society’s opportunities to join them. The LŠS is one of the most flexible alternatives for participating in total defense, with the broadest opportunities to involve citizens of various age groups, competencies, and levels of preparedness.
Linas Kojala: What are the key challenges in your work? How do you plan to address them, and what outcome after one year would look good to you?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: The following organizational challenges in the internal activities of the LŠS are distinguished:
Rapid LŠS expansion. As a consequence of Lithuanian citizens’ reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of LŠS members increased sharply in 2021–2022; it stabilized in 2023–2024, but the number of new members continues to grow steadily. With the number of adult riflemen having increased by more than 100% (as of 2020-12-31–5,021 riflemen; 2025-09-30–11,069 riflemen), while the number of full-time staff in the management and leadership structure did not increase proportionally, the organization is experiencing challenges in administering the LŠS, organizing military training and instruction for riflemen, which may in future negatively affect riflemen’s determination, activity, and readiness to improve the quality of LŠS activities, as well as to spread riflemen’s values and civic-mindedness in Lithuanian society.
Conducting military training. Not all LŠS units (especially in riflemen battalions with fewer members) are able to organize military training with their own unit capabilities. Due to both the existing lack of competence and the small number of riflemen in units, battalion leaderships are forced to organize joint battalion training exercises, inviting riflemen from different units of the battalion to attend, which is often not efficient and requires additional financial and time resources.
Infrastructure needs. As the number of LŠS members grows and military training intensifies, the need for infrastructure–especially shooting ranges and training areas–increases. With the significant increase in LK training activities and in joint exercises with NATO partners, the occupancy of LK training areas and ranges has risen, which reduces the LŠS’s ability to use LK training areas and shooting ranges.
Supply. The number of weapons, ammunition, and uniforms available to the LŠS does not allow for proper equipping of all riflemen in LŠS combat, garrison, and specialized units. This has a direct negative impact on military training and on riflemen’s motivation. The LŠS also faces challenges related to the storage of weapons and ammunition.
Linas Kojala: It is often said that the entire society must be ready to resist in the event of a threat. How do you understand this concept? Is Lithuania moving in this direction? Where has progress been made, and where are the gaps? How is this applied in the 21st century?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: At the state level, there is much and constant discussion about civil resistance, but among various responsible institutions there is no unified vision and understanding of the structure of civil resistance and of citizens’ functions. In the public sphere, different terms–“civil resistance” and “total defense”–are used interchangeably, but there is a failure to explain to society what they are and how they differ.
Society still lives in a state of feigned security and denial of threats. The problem lies not only in denying the probability of military invasion but also in the lack of imagination about what life would be like under conditions of war and occupation. There is a lack of understanding about the cruelty of the current Kremlin regime and its policy of destroying occupied nations. Some politicians view attempts to help society grasp the true scale of the threat negatively, fearing widespread panic, new waves of emigration, and stagnating domestic and foreign investment. Efforts to speak about threats are treated as incitement of panic, harm to the state, or politicking. The LŠS leadership officially has limited opportunities to disseminate information that contradicts dominant political narratives.
Russia’s actions in Ukraine raise doubts about the possibility, during a war with Russia, of implementing unarmed civil resistance in Lithuania. It is necessary–urgently, at the state level–to review the conventions of civil resistance/total defense and adapt them to the tactics used by a potential adversary, taking into account that the Russian army does not observe the principles of the law of war and poses a real threat to the inhabitants of occupied territories–killing civilian men, forcibly conscripting them into the occupation army; women being raped; children being forcibly deported.
Linas Kojala: Which international partners do you work most closely with? From whom are you seeking to learn best practices? Where could the LŠS help other countries?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: International cooperation with related foreign organizations is being intensified. A cooperation agreement has been signed with the Association of Reserve Officers of the German Armed Forces. LŠS activity in the diaspora is being rapidly expanded.
In 2025, a cooperation agreement was signed between the LŠS and the LŠS in the diaspora (Canada and the USA); currently, the LŠS has units in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Luxembourg. We are considering closer cooperation with related organizations in Poland and maintain contacts with Taiwan.
During the war between Ukraine and Russia, the LŠS is trying to absorb identified and learned lessons from the Armed Forces of Ukraine; LŠS personnel are constantly being sent to Ukraine for experience-sharing.
During the LŠS exercise “Black Hawk,” the leadership of the Latvian National Guard (Zemesardze) and representatives of Polish organizations related to the riflemen visited–experience in developing unmanned aerial vehicles, in implementing modern battle management systems, in creating medical support capabilities–experience that we pass on to foreign partners.
Linas Kojala: What conclusions about war and security threats do you draw from observing Ukraine’s fight for freedom?
Colonel Linas Idzelis: A systematic and allencompassing state approach is necessary when preparing for national defense. Our country’s strength lies not only in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and NATO, but also in involving the entire society in total defense–and not necessarily armed.
The development of new technologies–unmanned aerial vehicles, communications and information systems, cybersecurity, and robotics–must be a priority.
We can deter Russia, and if necessary defend against it, only by applying nontraditional methods of combat and by preparing for 21stcentury war and threats.
The development of Lithuania’s defense industry and the transfer of experience from Ukraine is also one of the essential tasks.
Read the full publication here.
