An extremely dangerous and reckless escalation indeed: Lithuania Sanctions" Russian Railroad,effectively cutting of supplies to Kalliningrad.An order from the US and NATO perhaps?
Video below shows panic-buying by Russians living in Kaliningrad, a portion of Russia detached from the mainland, nestled between Lithuania and Poland. The buying began because Lithuania cut-off Russian railroad shipments to the oblast (state).
For more than thirty years, there has been an understanding between Russia and Lithuania that the oblast (state) of Kaliningrad would be supplied via the Russian railroad through a narrow strip of land called the Suwalki Gap, that runs from Russia, along the southeastern border of Lithuania. The agreement held that the trains would be left alone, and act as a supply tunnel of sorts to the Russians living in Kaliningrad.
All that ended 48 hours ago, when Lithuania took it upon itself, to say Sanctions against Russia (over its Ukraine special military operation) would be applied to trains to/from Kaliningrad.
This means that virtually no transit can take place between Russia and its western-most state.
People in Kaliningrad fear they may starve to death having been cut-off from Supplies. That fear caused panic, and panic-buying took place yesterday and last night, as shown in the video below:
I am told the large bags seen being loaded into shopping carts are 50lb bags of flour.
HAL TURNER EDITORIAL OPINION
It appears that Lithuania is trying to CAUSE Russia to attack them militarily over this new embargo. They want this to take place because Lithuania is a member of NATO and once an attack takes place, Lithuania will invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty, collective self defense.
That would instantly place ALL the countries of NATO, at war with Russia, which is exactly what NATO wants, so as to be able to engage Russia directly to stop its operation in Ukraine.
The trouble with this thinking is that the President of Russia made clear "it will be a war that nobody will win." That's a euphemism for nuclear war.
President Putin, commenting publicly at the start of Russia's "special military operation" into Ukraine, made clear that Russia's conventional forces are no match for NATO Conventional forces. But, he said, "Russia is also a nuclear power. And our technology is superior to everyone else's. So if NATO invokes Article 5, it will be a war no one will win."
Knowing this, Lithuania STILL enacted a sanctions embargo against Kaliningrad.
They want nuclear war.
UPDATE 8:58 AM EDT --
"The UN needs to rectify the situation with the blockade of Kaliningrad,
or Russia will be free to resolve the issue of transit in any way"- the head of the Russian Federation Commission for the Protection of Sovereignty Klimov.
(
HT REMARK: This is almost identical to the wording used by Russia about resolving Security Guarantees, before it entered Ukraine. Clearly, this remark is meant to warn Lithuania (and the world) that Russia will resort to armed force to open the Kaliningrad embargo.)
UPDATE 10:27 AM EDT --
Senator Klimov: the blockade of Kaliningrad by Lithuania can be regarded as
direct aggression
If the European Union does not correct the “impudent trick” of Lithuania, which banned the transit of almost half of the cargo to the Kaliningrad region, then Brussels itself will disavow the legitimacy of the documents on Lithuanian membership in the EU for Russia and thus “untie its hands”
to solve the problem of Kaliningrad transit “by any means.”
Brief Recap with historical notes:
Kaliningrad's governor Alikhanov has already called on Russian federal authorities to prepare tit-for-tat measures against Lithuania in wake of the transit ban.
Alikhanov cited a key condition in the 2004 agreement that was part of Lithuania’s accession to the EU:
"that the Baltic state will apply in practice the principle of freedom of transit of goods, including energy, between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russian territory."
"In particular, we confirm that there shall be freedom of such transit, and that the goods in such transit shall not be subject to unnecessary delays or restrictions and shall be exempt from customs duties and transit duties or other charges related to transit,"
Then, in April...
When the EU first proposed the blockage of goods as part of the last major sanctions package in early April, Kremlin officials warned of war given Moscow would have to "break the blockade" for the sake if its citizens.
"I think that for now, this is a game, testing the waters <…>.
In case of a blockade, as they are saying, the Soviet Union knows how to break the blockades, we (Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union - TASS) have vast experience," the senator said.
"If they want to go to the length of making us break this blockade to save the lives of our people, who live there, we can do this,"
Ahead of the new Lithuanian transit ban taking effect, the state railways service was reportedly 'awaiting final word' from the European Commission.
then Brussels ruled that:
"sanctioned goods and cargo should still be prohibited even if they travel from one part of Russia to another but through EU territory,"
In Moscow's eyes, this is tantamount to laying economic siege to part of Russia's sovereign territory and one million of its citizens
Also read this👇
Russia Demands Lithuania Lift "Openly Hostile" Blockade; Panic Buying Ensues
The Russian Foreign Ministry has responded to Lithuania's partial blockade of Kaliningrad, writing in a statement that t
hey consider the "provocative measures" to be "openly hostile" and warning that
the Kremlin may take action to "protect its national interests."
Kaliningrad is sandwiched between the EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Supplies from Russia are delivered via rail and gas pipelines through Lithuania - which announced last week that it was banning the rail transit of goods subject to EU sanctions, which include
coal, advanced technology, metals and construction materials.
"If in the near future cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then
Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests," the statement reads.
They have demanded that Lithuania immediately lift the ban on a number of goods to the Kaliningrad region.
FURTHER ESCALATION👇
Ukraine SINKS Russian Rescue Ship on Black Sea
The Russian Black Sea Fleet Rescue Tug "Vasily Bekh" has been hit by Ukrainian-launched missiles and SUNK.
The vessel was struck by two Harpoon anti ship missiles, a U.S. produced weapons system, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The 187 foot long ship
sank within 18 seconds of being hit.
At least ten (10) Russian sailors are dead, 23 others are wounded.
Video, below, was taken by a Bayraktar Drone operated by the Ukraine military, shows the two missiles striking from the left, and the ship going under almost immediately after the explosions:
The assault on the Vasily Bekh Rescue tugboat was first announced on the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and a few minutes later a video showing the assault was posted on social media.
Developing story.....