Lithuania makes every effort to return baby ‘abducted’ by father from Russia

Lithuania’s authorities are making every effort to bring back home a baby girl who was taken by her father to Russia’s Kaliningrad, according to the prime minister.

“I’d see that situation as a criminal offence, as child abduction,” Ingrida Šimonytė told LRT RADIO on Tuesday.

“The fact that [the father] chose to take the child to an unfriendly country complicates our efforts to bring the girl back, but our institutions are working intensively and we will certainly strive to find some solutions,” she said.

The 37-year-old father, who does not have the custody of his daughter, took the child, born in 2022, from her mother on Sunday. He then crossed the Skirvytė River, which marks the border between Lithuania and Kaliningrad, and was detained by Russian border guards.

On Tuesday, the National Crisis Management Centre said the man was released from the border checkpoint.

“As far as we know, he has a dwelling of his own there and is together with his daughter, whom he is taking care of,” the centre’s head Vilmantas Vitkauskas told reporters.

Russia refuses to hand the child and the man over to Lithuania, saying that he holds both Russian and Lithuanian passports.

Šimonytė said she could not confirm that the man is indeed a Russian citizen.

She rejected criticism over the Lithuanian border guards’ handling of the situation and dismissed concerns that the border with Russia might not be properly protected.

Lithuanian diplomats seeking access

Lithuanian diplomats are seeking access to the baby girl, the Foreign Ministry told BNS.

A request for assistance from the girl’s mother was received on Monday, according to Paulina Levickytė, an adviser to the foreign minister.

On the same day, Lithuania’s Consulate General in Kaliningrad sent an official note to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s representative office in the region, asking for information on the whereabouts of the minor Lithuanian citizen and for permission to visit her.

Russian officials have not replied to the note so far.

“The Consulate General in Kaliningrad is in contact with the child’s mother and is providing her with consular assistance,” Levickytė said.