when the 16th division was reformed after its destruction, it was given the name 'lithuanian' largely for political purposes. after lithuania, along with estonia and latvia, was occupied by the soviet union in june 1940, the lithuanian army was reorganized into the 29th rifle corps of red army. however, at the start of operation barbarossa in june 1941, lithuanians massively deserted, joined anti-soviet june uprising, or surrendered to the germans. the corps was officially disbanded in august 1941. despite this failure, lithuanian communists, including antanas sniečkus and mečislovas gedvilas, sought to establish a new lithuanian unit. similar national military units were created by estonians (8th estonian rifle corps) and latvians (130th latvian rifle corps).