On Tuesday, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas said Russia was moving troops from its Kaliningrad exclave to counter Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region.
“We are seeing how they are transferring troops from Kaliningrad to Kursk,” he said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Kasčiūnas also said that the offensive in Russia’s Kursk region is thus “demilitarising” the Kaliningrad region.
“I’m telling Lithuanian people: Look how the Ukrainians are fighting for us, because [...] they have transferred troops from Kaliningrad,” the defence minister said. “We are even calling this the demilitarisation of Kaliningrad.”
Wedged between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast, Kaliningrad is home to Russia’s Baltic Fleet and maintains a significant presence of armed forces. Previously, Lithuanian officials also said that Russia had, at times, deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the region.
Kaliningrad is also seen as a headache to the Baltic and NATO commanders, who are wary of Russia’s ability to use the troops in the exclave to seize the so-called Suwalki Gap in the event of an armed conflict. This would then cut off the Baltic states from the rest of their NATO allies.
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