On 15 June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, and the riflemen, like the rest of the military, were ordered not to resist. Aleksandras Barauskas, a rifleman and a border guard, was killed by Red Army soldiers in the early morning of June 15. The new Soviet People's Government of Lithuania immediately took steps to liquidate the union. Its commander, Colonel Pranas Saladžius, was dismissed on 19 June 1940, and the Chief of Defence division General Vincas Vitkauskas, who was cooperating with the Soviets, ordered the riflemen to hand over their arms to the military on 25 June 1940. On 13 July 13, 1940 a Soviet order to liquidate the union was issued. In subsequent months, a number of the most active riflemen were arrested as "enemies of the people" and sent to various Gulag camps. In June 1941, the Soviets started a mass deportation that targeted "anti-Soviet elements", including the riflemen. Among those deported were LRU's commander Colonel Pranas Saladžius, honorary commander of the women's section Emilija Putvinskienė, commander of the Utena Regiment Lt. Col. Pranas Bronevičius, head of the culture section Vincas Daudzvaras, and others.