A new chapter of tensions between To fly and the west opened up around Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Poland Lithuania, and therefore squeezed between NATO territories. Vilnius authorities have decided to block entry of Russian trains carrying certain types of goods. And the Kremlin He thundered, calling the decision “hostile” and “provocative” and announcing that Russia would take “measures to defend its own interests” unless the measure is revoked. The warning was issued by Moscow’s Foreign Ministry, which summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Lithuanian embassy.
Well, with some exaggeration due to propaganda, the scenario seems apt to evoke the tragic sieges that have marked Soviet history (from Leningrad to Stalingrad), fueled the encirclement complex, and fueled the Russian nationalist spirit. Vilnius diplomatic chief Gabrielius Landsbergis stated that his government was doing nothing but applying the sanctions decided by the European Union against the invasion of Ukraine. A statement endorsed by EU High Representative Josep Borrell.
STEEL
The restrictive measures are expected to affect around 50% of the products transported from Russia to Russia Kaliningrad, starting with steel. However, Lithuanian clarifications were not enough to appease Russian anger. The decision in Vilnius said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, was “unprecedented” and most importantly “illegal” because it would violate a 2022 deal between Russia and the EU. Therefore, the situation is “very serious” and Moscow will examine the countermeasures in detail. For now, Russia’s Baltic Fleet – which is headquartered in Kaliningrad – has announced it will conduct new military maneuvers in the region, using multiple Grad and Uragan missile launch systems.
Ukraine expressed its full support for the Vilnius initiative. “Russia has no right to threaten Lithuania, and Moscow itself is responsible for the consequences of the unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. The region remained under Russian control after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
Lithuania, with the approval of the EU, has decided to “take the province of Kaliningrad hostage,” condemned the chairman of the Duma’s international affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky. And while Moscow has yet to specify the nature of the retaliation, the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov warned that it could respond by impeding the movement of Lithuanian goods into the Baltic Sea. “If you look at the map – he said – you see that the Baltic countries, their ports and transport system cannot do without Russia”.
14 MISSILES
Meanwhile, the bombardment continues. The Russians seem to have drawn attention to themselves again Odesa which was targeted yesterday with numerous attacks that destroyed a food warehouse. Moscow forces fired 14 rockets, many of which were repelled by the Ukrainians. However, according to the analysis of the Kiev Ministry of Defense, Russia plans to take Lugansk by Sunday. The pro-Russians claimed the capture of Toshkivka on the west bank of the Siverskiy Donets river. From there, they could try to break through the defense lines and launch the decisive attack on Lysyhansk, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid a secret visit yesterday to “see with my own eyes how the situation is developing” and the troops at the encourage front. Severodonetsk, on the other hand, is now de facto in Moscow hands, although the armed standoff remains with the defenders of the Azot chemical plant, barricaded in the bunkers along with more than 500 civilians, including some forty children.
MERCENARY
Yesterday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed what had been feared for days: the Americans captured in Ukraine were “mercenaries” – he froze the USA -. They have to pay the price for their “crimes” and “cannot count on the protection of the Geneva Convention” as far as prisoners of war are concerned.
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