Soviet Troops Withdraw From Vilnius

VILNIUS, Soviet Union —  Two convoys of Soviet troops left the Lithuanian capital today, and the republic’s president said a withdrawal could set the stage for new talks between Moscow and the breakaway republics.

The death toll in the Baltics, meanwhile, rose to 20 when Jonas Tautkus, 20, died from a gunshot wound to the head he suffered a day earlier at a military checkpoint. Lithuanian officials said the apparent draft dodger was shot when he refused to get out of his car; military officials said he was hit by a ricochet.

Soviet Interior Minister Boris Pugo said that paratroopers have left the Baltic region and that two-thirds of the “black beret” Interior Ministry troops have also been withdrawn.

Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis said that Kremlin promises to remove at least some troops were a good sign but that Soviet forces still occupied Lithuania’s buildings and that a propaganda war was being waged against the republic.

Responding to President Bush’s announcement that Moscow had conveyed a willingness to “move away from violence,” Landsbergis said the United States should be wary of Soviet promises.

The Parliament information office said two convoys of about 45 vehicles, and planes carrying 30 to 40 truckloads of soldiers, left the capital this morning.

But Lithuanians said they could not confirm that the forces actually left Lithuania or were merely redeployed elsewhere in the small Baltic state.

Soviet military crackdowns since Jan. 13 in Lithuania and Latvia had left 19 people dead.

Pugo, interviewed by the newspaper Robochaya Tribuna, said that “all army paratroop units were withdrawn from the Baltic region by Jan. 28” and that only conventional forces remained.

“Two-thirds of Interior Ministry troops were withdrawn by Jan. 29,” Pugo said. “One-third of these troops remain for the present, but as calm is returning, they will not remain there forever.”