The territory occupied by Lithuania had been part of the
Russian Empire since the eighteenth century. In the aftermath of the
First World War and the collapse of the empire following the
Russian Revolution in 1917, Lithuania
declared independence on 16 February 1918. Diplomatic relations were established between Lithuania and the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on 12 July 1920, and was appointed the first Plenipotentiary representative on 26 August that year. Representation continued until the
Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940, after which Lithuania was
de facto part of the USSR for the remainder of the existence of the Soviet Union, with the exception of a period of
occupation by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1944 during the
Second World War.
Soviet forces re-occupied Lithuania in 1944, after which Lithuania became a constituent part of the Soviet Union as the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Representation has since been by ''
chargé d'affaires''. ==List of representatives (1920–present) ==