The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, hundreds of miles west of the rest of the country, is the latest hotspot between Moscow and the rest of Europe as the aftermath of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war echoes beyond Ukraine.
Squeezed between Lithuania and Poland – both members of the European Union and NATO – Kaliningrad is located on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. It receives most of its deliveries on routes through Lithuania and Belarus.
Lithuania said in mid-June that it would ban the transit of EU-sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad, including coal, metals and construction materials, through its territory. The Kremlin called the move “unprecedented and illegal” and called on the EU’s top diplomat in Moscow to complain. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said the response would have a “serious” impact on the Lithuanian people.
Here’s what you need to know about this isolated Russian exclave and how it got entangled in the war in Ukraine.
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