Kaliningrad & the Baltics.

[TsarSamuil]

Deal with Russia ‘as it is’ says Estonian president, arguing in favor of greater cooperation with shared neighbor on Baltic visit.

RT.com
5 Mar, 2021 15:14

During a trip to neighboring Latvia, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid has urged European diplomats to pursue more constructive relationships with Moscow, insisting that doing so need not be at the expense of their ‘values’.

In an interview with the local LTV news channel, reported by Russian media on Thursday, the Estonian politician insisted that when it comes to Russia, “being involved doesn’t mean abandoning your principles.”

“I am in favor of dialogue,” she said, “but in it, you need to be firm and give a clear message. This is our common task – to take on these difficult issues.” At the same time, Kaljulaid is quoted as saying, “the more Western neighbors engage with Russia as it is, the more they will understand it.”

“We need to cooperate. For example, we support the fact that the EU, together with Russia, needs to conduct border checks. Likewise, we will willingly host Russian students so that they can see what life is like in the Free World [sic].” However, would-be exchange students might decide to bide their time before booking tickets to Tallinn. Estonia is currently under a strict Covid-19 lockdown, while Russia has already mostly abandoned restrictive measures to control the pandemic as case numbers tumble.

Tensions between Russia and the Baltic nation have risen in recent weeks, with Moscow’s diplomats last month slamming Estonia’s calls for fresh sanctions on the country. The local Russian embassy pointed out that the new government of their host nation had previously said there was an absence of “grounds” for building better relations with their Eastern neighbor.

Earlier this week, the EU, of which Estonia and Latvia are both members, unveiled a package of sanctions aimed at four Russian officials who Brussels claims are responsible for the jailing of opposition figure Alexey Navalny. Also included on the list is the head of the country’s riot police, which Eurocrats accuse of being responsible for “human rights violations” during the policing of protests held in Navalny’s support after his arrest in January.

A diplomatic spat reignited between the two countries in January after Henn Polluaas, the most senior figure in Estonia's legislative assembly, used a New Year’s address to remind the public of a post-WWI agreement that he claims gives the country sovereignty over swathes of Russian territories. According to Polluaas, the “accord is still valid today, according to international law.”

Alexander Drosdenko, the governor of Leningrad Region, where much of the disputed land is now located, hit back at Polluaas’ statement, telling reporters that the parliamentarian's position depended entirely on “selective memory.” Pointing to previous border negotiations as far back as 1996, he claimed that “when signing the protocol, the Estonian side did not have a single question.”

[TsarSamuil]

Exposed: How British state tries to weaponise Russian-speakers in Baltics as ‘agents of change’ in operation to ‘weaken’ Moscow.

RT.com
8 Mar, 2021 08:33

Leaked documents have revealed details of a massive secret British propaganda campaign aimed at making swathes of people in the Baltic states feel more positively about the West – and more negatively about their ethnic homeland.

The UK government has for several years targeted residents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, “whose primary language is Russian,” with a variety of information warfare strategies, in order to “develop greater affinity” among them for the UK, European Union and NATO, and to help “weaken the Russian state.”

This is explained in just some of the papers released by hacktivist collective Anonymous, which expose how Whitehall has sought to covertly infiltrate and co-opt civil society at every level across the former Soviet sphere, in order to further London’s financial, geopolitical and ideological interests.

The three Baltic states are home to around one million ethnic Russians – around one sixth of the region’s total residents. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Lithuania quickly moved to grant these individuals citizenship – but conversely, Estonia and Latvia categorized them “non-citizens,” leaving a significant proportion of their respective populations effectively stateless.

Russophone inhabitants in those countries are consequently often unable to hold passports, vote, run for public office, work in a variety of professional fields, and more. They also claim to experience direct and indirect discrimination from authorities and citizens alike. Riga and Tallinn deny these charges, instead accusing Moscow of exploiting the issue for political purposes.

While many Russian-speakers in the region supported their host state’s quest for independence from the USSR, they maintain an empathy for their mother country, which disenfranchisement would undoubtedly amplify.

London began its effort to propagandize this “target audience” at least as early as 2016. A tender document indicates at some point that year, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) reached out to an array of private contractors, asking for assistance in delivering “innovative soft power interventions” to “develop greater affinity with the UK/EU/Baltic States” among Russophones in the region.

The file, rampant with obvious disdain for the identity of the Baltics’ Russian minority, defines “soft power” as “the ability to affect others through the co-optive means of framing the agenda, persuading, and eliciting positive attraction in order to obtain preferred outcomes.”

It also outlines a five-step behavioral change program for targets, although achieving this is forecast to be somewhat problematic, given Russian-speakers 40 years old and above in the Baltics “have a strong affinity with Russia and [are] vulnerable to Russian propaganda,” as “they grew up under the Soviet system and have been shaped by its education and ‘culture.’”

“This makes them supportive of and advocates of (perhaps to the point of acting out) Russian narratives, and be primary consumers of its ‘culture,’” the document contemptuously contends. “They will have low awareness of; knowledge of; interest in; support for; or be advocates of Euro-Atlantic narratives and culture. They also probably lack the skills to critique the culture they consume. They are less likely to speak English so it will be necessary to engage them in their native tongue.”

‘Less vulnerable to Russian propaganda… more vulnerable to Western propaganda’

Conversely, younger Russian speakers are considered more fruitful prey, on the basis “they grew up under national governments and have been shaped by their education.” As a result, they “have medium-high awareness, knowledge and interest of Euro-Atlantic narratives and ‘culture’” which “may make them more open to alternative narratives” and thus “less vulnerable to Russian propaganda.”

It may be instructive at this point to refer to a separate classified document related to Open Information Partnership, another FCDO-funded effort to discredit and destabilize Moscow.

It notes one key barrier to battling Russian “disinformation” is that “certain Kremlin-backed narratives are factually true” – “responding to inconvenient truths, as opposed to pure propaganda, is naturally more problematic.”

One such “inconvenient truth,” of course, could be that Russian-speakers in the Baltics are indeed subject to widespread discrimination, and Russian media reporting on the issue is thus inherently “problematic,” as it’s difficult to factually counter.

For example, a 2019 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) report highlighted several concerns around Latvia’s treatment of its Russian-speaking population. Among other things, it recorded that in May 2017, an MP from the far-right National Alliance party – which serves in the country’s coalition government – wrote an article for a national newspaper bemoaning how “hard” it was to remove “Russian lice” from one’s “fur.”

The ECRI also noted elected National Alliance representatives are often seen at annual commemorations in Riga celebrating soldiers of the Latvian Legion, a dedicated unit of the Waffen-SS that fought alongside the Nazis against Moscow during World War II.

While the ECRI’s findings were ignored by the Western media, the FCDO is acutely aware of such challenges – in a separate leaked file, Latvian government policy in respect of “non-citizens” is branded “detrimental to social cohesion,” by the department’s Counter Disinformation & Media Development chief Andy Pryce.

Another FCDO document sets out in even more disquieting detail the extent to which Whitehall seeks to understand the perceptions, motivations and habits of its Baltic targets, in order to identify “what can be done by the UK and national Governments to be more attractive” to Russian-speakers, and manipulate them accordingly.

The research brief, scheduled to cost almost a million pounds, called for highly granular psychological analysis of Russophones, surpassing mere gender, income, employment status, occupation, level of education, location, and languages spoken.

London wished to identify their “life motivations and desires,” key interests, likes, hobbies, “current satisfaction of life and attitude towards it,” biggest fears, concerns, challenges, “hopes, dreams, aspirations for the future for themselves and their families,” and “existing or potential grievances against their government.”

In response, Albany Associates – a veteran of Whitehall-funded psyops in Syria, among other countries – submitted proposals to the FCDO, the dimensions of which were vast and troubling in the absolute extreme.

‘Exploit children to influence their parents’

No area of public, or even private, life was considered off limits for infiltration by the company, which is just one of several FCDO-bankrolled contractors attempting to influence and shape the thoughts and actions of inhabitants of the region for political means, without their knowledge or consent.

For instance, Albany pledged to exploit the region’s Russian-speaking youth as “agents of change to influence their parents’ and grandparents’ generations and amplify a distinct ‘Euro-Baltic’ identity.”

One method of doing so was surreptitious sponsorship of “family-centred direct outreach events,” complemented by the staging of “a minimum of 75” cultural activities “in carefully selected Baltic communities,” ostensibly hosted by Estonia’s Vita Tiim, Latvia’s Jasma, and Lithuania’s Youth Initiative Group.

These events – projected to involve “direct engagement of approximately 6,750 people, with a special focus on attracting the 40-60 age group” – were to be held at weekends “to maximize turnout.” This included family movie nights, city-wide competitions, quiz tournaments, “mother and daughter afternoon tea parties” designed to “leverage female influence in society,” and “youth theatre performances.”

One proposed example of the latter activity entailed funding Lithuanian theatrical group Harlequin to produce and tour “a strategically and collaboratively written play” throughout the region. Its plot centred on “contested identities in Russian-speaking families and inter-generational frictions.”

Likewise, films aired at Albany’s screenings would be carefully selected by “local experts” to both “ensure critical mass of interest,” and “spark discussion on Euro-Atlantic values and narratives,” among viewers.

‘Seed online conversations with pro-Western messages’

These events would be greatly amplified by various information campaigns on and offline, in order to “open Russian speakers’ minds” – news outlets “preferred by Russian minorities” blitzed with op-eds on “Russian-speakers benefiting from the EU and other Euro-Atlantic institutions,” online media platforms with “articles, blogs and videos amplifying Baltic life, including art, music, [and] media.”

Albany’s primary local partner in these efforts was to be marketing firm Inspired, said to already manage a Latvian/Russian news portal with a user base of around 400,000, and have previously led a “successful campaign on European currency transition.”

The pair sought to identify and cultivate a network of the region’s “most powerful” online influencers in order to secretly “seed online conversations” with Whitehall-approved key messaging, creating a Facebook page to “disseminate information on Baltic Euro-leaning heritage,” and promote the various cultural events covertly convened by Albany.

Users were to be oblivious that their engagement with the platform would be keenly scrutinized by the FCDO contractor, in order to optimize its propaganda output.

“Participatory conversation will be encouraged on the platform, then analysed throughout to gauge sentiment, refine influencer maps and establish key themes,” Albany wrote. “The campaign will be launched and carefully seeded in Russian on appropriate social media channels according to a tailored strategy. It will also use key dates and events of significance to Russian speakers, such as WWII celebrations as a way of inserting itself into pre-existing conversations to amplify the campaign effects.”

Prior to the leak of these files, suggestions the UK government was secretly funding quiz nights, theatre productions, maternal tea parties, social media influencers and more in the Baltic countries to undermine Russia, and in the process using unwitting youths as “agents” to manipulate their forebears, could easily be dismissed as the deranged ramblings of a conspiracy theorist.

However, the documents lay bare in black and white that London has indeed been waging an insidious conspiracy in the region, as wide-ranging as it is sinister, and will stop at nothing to demonize, destabilize and isolate Moscow nationally and internationally.

[TsarSamuil]

Nazi war criminal celebrated by Lithuanian government as hero of WW2 resistance exposed by his own granddaughter in brand new book.

RT.com
9 Mar, 2021 16:09

American journalist Silvia Foti exposed a major cover-up by the Lithuanian government. Her grandfather, considered a WWII hero in the country, was actually a Nazi mass murderer. Now she’s written a book that tells the real story.

It seems clear that Foti’s grandmother, who begged her not to write about her husband, knew the truth. “Just let history lie,” she whispered to her granddaughter. This week, with the book’s publication, the truth will finally be told: known as an Anti-Soviet partisan, Jonas Noreika, celebrated with monuments in his homeland, was a war criminal who had been personally responsible for having ordered the murder of thousands of Jews in Lithuania during the Holocaust.

One such place was in the western town of Plungė, where Noreika served in the beginning of WWII as commander of the Lithuanian Activist Front, an openly anti-Semitic group that cheered the coming of the Nazis as liberators. Plungė’s entire Jewish population of more than 1,800 was murdered, mostly by local people, within days of their arrival in July 1941.

“While my grandfather’s role in the Holocaust has been painful enough to discover,” says Foti, an American journalist, in an op-ed for the Times of Israel, “what has been equally painful was the discovery of the Lithuanian government’s denial of his role in the Holocaust. This is the 10th stage of genocide – denial that it ever happened.”

In the center of the capital, Vilnius, there is a plaque to Noreika on the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, and his name is on a wall commemorating national heroes at the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. His home village boasts a monument and school named after him, and there is a plaque honoring him in a street in the second-largest city, Kaunas. Thirteen years after he was exposed as one of Lithuania’s most prolific Holocaust perpetrators, the government posthumously bestowed on him the president’s highest award: the Order of the Cross of Vytis.

After 20 years of research, Foti’s book, ‘The Nazi’s Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather was a War Criminal’ was finally published today. Its cover features a quote from a New York Times review: “Blaming Russian propaganda has suddenly become a lot more difficult, thanks to Mr Noreika’s own granddaughter, Silvia Foti.”

Lithuanians have always been quick to accuse Moscow of being behind anything that casts their country in a bad light, but the facts speak for themselves: according to major international research institutions that have studied the Holocaust, especially the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Lithuanian complicity was both widespread and a major reason why 96.4 percent of the country’s pre-1939 Jewish population – which numbered 250,000 – was wiped out. Fewer than a thousand Nazis could not have murdered so many people. They needed, and received, the help of Lithuanians to carry out the horrifying task, which they executed with both enthusiasm and intense cruelty.

Foti’s investigation exposed an official cover-up by the government of the role her grandfather played in the Holocaust. While many Lithuanians see her as a traitor for bringing shame on their country, and have voiced a desire to see her declared a persona non grata, she robustly defends her actions in the NYT op-ed: “Analysis of a dark past is always traumatic. But we will never achieve clarity and healing if we base our history on lies.” Foti declined to be interviewed by RT for this article.

Last month, the head of the Institute of History and three universities declared they could no longer cooperate with the state-funded Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (LGGRTC). Its research, they argued, had become ideologized and politicized, encouraging a “defense of history” and perpetuating “wars of memory.” Its employees, they claimed, were also making irresponsible statements and giving biased information in interviews. These are the very accusations the Lithuanian government makes against Russia.

A case in point: the LGGRTC says the activities of Juozas Brazaitis-Ambrazevičius, a former minister of education and the acting prime minister under the provisional government in 1941, during Lithuania’s occupation by Nazi Germany, “were investigated fully by the US Congress and US Immigration and Naturalization Service” and that, in 1974, he “was completely exonerated” of charges that he was a Nazi puppet and Holocaust collaborator.

What the center hides, and continues to deny until today, is that the US investigation was dropped, because Brazaitis-Ambrazevičius died in 1974. No decision regarding either criminally charging or exonerating him was ever adopted. This is confirmed in a 2019 letter from US Congressman Bradley Sherman to the then-prime minister of Lithuania, Saulius Skvernelis. Sherman, whose parents were of Russian-Jewish descent, references documents – inaccessible in 1974 because they were in the Soviet jurisdiction – that testify to Brazaitis-Ambrazevičius’ complicity in the Holocaust.

Seven years earlier, Sherman and two other US congressmen protested at Brazaitis-Ambrazevičius being reburied with full honors. They said it “undermines efforts to counter anti-Semitism and to recognize the crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators. We hope you will take concrete steps to demonstrate your government’s commitment to accurate historical portrayal and recognize the darkest realities of the Holocaust.”

Attempts by RT to make contact with Congressman Sherman were unsuccessful, and correspondence with Grant Gochin, a Lithuanian Jewish American and a serial litigant against the Republic of Lithuania, who made publicly available a list of legal claims against Lithuanian governmental Holocaust revisionism, also went unanswered.

To date, the LGGRTC has merely reinforced, rather than corrected, its misinformation about Brazaitis-Ambrazevičius. It has also tried to discredit Sherman, claiming his opinion should be viewed in the context of his role as a politician and not as a new source of historical information.

The previous director of the LGGRTC, Teresė Birutė Burauskaitė, was neither a historian nor a lawyer, yet claimed to have a greater understanding of the meaning of US Congressional documents than Lithuania’s Congressional allies, and Dalius Stancikas, the current head of public relations for the LGGRTC, continues those falsifications, yet these have the rule of law in Lithuania.

The irony is that Sherman was one of the staunchest promoters of greater co-operation between Vilnius and Washington. He and US Congressmen Henry Waxman and Howard Berman voted for the country’s membership to NATO in 2004 and supported the deployment of the US military in Lithuania, all of which have been of no small benefit to the Baltic state. Trade between the countries amounts to more than $1.9 billion annually and, in 2019, Washington provided Vilnius with approximately $88 million in security assistance.

So, when Valdas Rakutis, a Lithuanian MP from the ruling coalition who was then also chairman of the parliament’s Historical Memory Commission, declared on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January this year that Jews are also to be blamed for the Holocaust, it is a reflection of the country’s official policy. It is also an indication that the government values maintaining its fraudulent history over offending its strongest ally.

When the prosecutor at the Vilnius District Office subsequently declined to investigate Rakutis’ statements, arguing that Rakutis had no intention of inciting negative public reaction against people of Jewish ethnicity, and had not sought to incite hatred and discord, Vilnius sent a strong message that it would rather risk its national existence than discontinue with its falsifications. In continuing to protect Nazi supporters and enablers, certain questions have to be asked. What kind of value system does Lithuania have, and why would Europe want to be associated with it? And why, when the country has been internationally exposed for having perpetuated propaganda, would Europe afford it credibility on any subject?

Rakutis’ subsequent resignation from the Historical Memory Commission was – according to Efraim Zuroff, the chief Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of its Israel office – only because he’d made his statements “on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in parliament, and there was an international uproar about it.” His views, says Zuroff, “contained all the elements that are official policy in Lithuania.”

The US-based advocacy organization the Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN) has launched an initiative to ensure all 535 members of the US Congress learn about the ongoing Holocaust revisionism campaign perpetrated by Lithuania. “The Lithuanian government not only hides the criminal histories of Holocaust perpetrators, but adds insult to injury by bestowing their highest national honors on those who are proven murderers of Jews. If the Lithuanian government is able to effortlessly lie about history’s greatest crime, then it begs the question: what won’t it lie about?” says Dillon Hosier, ICAN’s CEO.

Foti writes: “My grandfather will remain to me a monster. Those watching are the families of his victims. I know that forgiving is impossible. Only the murdered may forgive and they are not here to do that. So, I ask you to accept my genuine personal apology. I am sorry for the sins of my grandfather and I am sorry for what the Lithuanian government continues to do.”

[TsarSamuil]

Latvia begins blocking RT news site aimed at country’s Russian-speaking minority as outlet accuses Riga of attack on free press.

RT.com
31 Mar, 2021 11:42

A ban on RT’s Russian-language news service is coming into full force in Latvia after officials began implementing a controversial decision by the country’s online media watchdog, which has already seen RT channels taken off air.

RT confirmed on Wednesday morning that authorities had started to implement restrictions on access to its Russian website, in line with a decision by the Latvian National Electronic Media Council. The ruling, issued in June last year, has already seen seven separate RT channels officially banned from the airwaves in the Baltic country. Free press watchdog Reporters Without Borders railed against the decision at the time, saying it was made on a “flimsy legal basis.”

“Latvia has begun to shut down access to the RT website in Russian. The site is now inaccessible to users of several major providers in the country,” the network said in a statement.

Officials in Riga have claimed that the Russian state-funded outlet is “effectively controlled” by Dmitry Kiselyov, a Moscow-born journalist who is on a list of individuals officially sanctioned by the EU. However, nobody in Riga has ever produced any evidence to demonstrate Kiselyov has ever held any role at RT, its parent company or any of its projects, channels or platforms. In a statement issued at the time, Kiselyov mocked the decision, saying that he had no involvement with the news group and arguing that the move should be reversed.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Anna Belkina, Deputy Editor in Chief of RT, contended that the decision “flows from a series of troublingly absurd assertions made by Latvian intelligence, in which they falsely link a sanctioned individual to RT.”

The claims, she said, have become “a rabbit hole which has led its government to blindly take this illegitimate action. Not only has Latvia already been castigated by Reporters Without Borders for misusing EU policy, and threatened its own people with draconian fines for watching the media they want to consume, but now it is sending a message to the world that its free market and free press is officially dead.”

“Sadly,” Belkina added, “this is just the latest step in what’s become a quotidian campaign against RT and other alternative voices around the world.” However, she said, “rarely are such actions so thinly veiled as those in Latvia."

A number of visitors to RT’s online content on Wednesday were redirected to a message warning them that their “internet browser is trying to connect to a website which, in the territory of the Latvian Republic, is unlawfully distributing television programs without a re-transmission permit.”

Valentin Rozhnetsov, Editor in Chief of the Russian state-funded Sputnik Latvia news service said that the country “is trying with all its might to play the role of a state governed by the rule of law… this time though, something seems to have broken down.” He added that the move was based on “thin compliance with the law” and claimed that, instead of being based on agreed policy, it was being made on a technicality, driven by “political” motives.

The previous ruling affected channels including RT, RT HD, RT Arabic, RT Spanish, RT Documentary HD, RT Documentary and RT TV.

In February, local media announced that the Seimas, Latvia’s parliament, had adopted a bill in its final reading that will criminalize people for watching unauthorized broadcasts picked up from across the country’s eastern border. Ivars Abolins, chairman of Latvia’s National Council for Electronic Media, issued a statement backing the ban. “We have protected, are protecting, and will protect our information space,” he said. The regulators claim that talk-show guests on the Russian-speaking channels have incited hatred and called for war in Europe.

At the time, the Russian Embassy in Riga issued a stern protest in response. In a statement, diplomats claimed that the policy was “in the best traditions of dictatorship.”

More than one in three Latvians reports speaking Russian in the home as a native language, but dozens of broadcasters showing programming aimed at the minority group have seen their licenses revoked and have been pulled off the air. In 2018, the country’s main opposition party, Harmony, which is led by Russian speakers and has close links to parties across the border, won nearly a quarter of the available seats in the Seimas in a parliamentary election.

[TsarSamuil]

Latvia's Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission approves ban of St. George's Ribbon, a hallmark of WWII victory celebrations.

RT.com
23 Sep, 2021 12:18

A commission of Latvia's parliament has approved a bill that would ban the use of the iconic St. George's ribbon during public events, with MPs believing it is a symbol of the Soviet era and is against the spirit of independence.

The measure, waved through by parliament's Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission this week, must be signed off by MPs before it passes into law.

The St. George's Ribbon is a black-and-orange-striped military symbol, which first appeared in 1769 as the ribbon of the Order of St. George, the highest military decoration of Imperial Russia. It regained prominence almost 200 years later, during World War II, when the same ribbon was used for the Soviet Order of Glory. Nowadays, the two colors are synonymous with the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, and the ribbon is seen extensively during annual celebrations.

According to the head of the commission, Artuss Kaimiņš, the values carried by the symbol are "unacceptable," also claiming that Russia's "totalitarian ideology towards the former Soviet republics" is a reason to reject the ribbon. Latvia has reason to see Moscow as a "threat to its democratic system and security," he said, according to Latvian publication Jauns.

Kaimiņš is a former actor and radio host who created his own right-wing political party in 2016. He was elected as an MP in 2018. Two years later, he was kicked out of the faction for alleged disloyalty to the party line.

In recent times, the black-and-orange ribbon has caused some controversy abroad, particularly in Ukraine and the Baltic states, where some believe it to be associated with Russian irredentism. It was banned in 2017 in Ukraine, with Kiev believing it to have become a symbol of the war in the country's east, which it blames on Moscow. Similar bans have also been discussed in Lithuania. Belarus has also moved away from the symbol, instead changing to a red and green ribbon.

[TsarSamuil]

God, I can't stand those subhuman balts..

Opinion: There is Unjustified Hate Towards Ordinary Russians in Latvia Right Now.

Novinite.com
World » RUSSIA | March 10, 2022, Thursday // 14:17

Valentina is a young girl from Latvia but her parents are Russian. She is against the war in Ukraine and doesn’t support Putin’s actions. However, she witnesses unfair treatment of Russians and Russian-speaking people in her home country and she doesn’t want to remain silent about it. Here is what she shared with us:

“My family is Russian. I have lots of relatives who live in Russia and also my dad has a Russian passport because it’s really difficult to get a Latvian passport even if you lived in Latvia your whole life.

If we talk about the war, I was on the side of Ukraine because what's happening there is horrible and I know that it's extremely difficult for Ukrainian people, especially the ones who live abroad, and their family is in Ukraine without the possibility to get out.

I have also lived abroad for a long time and missed my family. I know how hard it is, I can only imagine but there is also another side to all of this.

The hate and disrespect that's coming toward EACH AND EVERY Russian-speaking person or just Russian people are enormous.

People do not even care to ask which side you are on, you will be hated and disrespected just because of your nationality. And I find it extremely frustrating. Let me give you an example from my home country, Latvia.

Authorities there make people, in this case, small kids in schools, to make a decision about which side they are on. Which I think is stupid because they are kids, and if they say Russia, they will be faced with disrespect and hate, even though these kids do not understand anything.

Ukrainians think that every Russian is someone who wants to occupy their country. Some even think that Russians who live in Latvia should go back to Russia. But why? These people lived there their whole lives in Latvia, they paid taxes, worked, raised kids, etc. And I don't think it's fair to say so.

Right now if you speak Russian in Latvia you can be easily beaten, for no reason. It all started with this war and Russian-speaking people are in danger just because of the general hate towards Russia and its government. Another example I can give is when one girl who was speaking Russian was pepper-sprayed in the face. It’s not fair.

So if you ask me what side I am on, I will say I am on the side of Ukraine, but I am frustrated because of the hate that comes towards every Russian-speaking person. This is not fair to us. You speak Russian then you automatically become the enemy. Why then do Ukrainians speak Russian abroad? Why do they leave their country and go to another and speak Russian? Applying their logic, does this mean they are occupying this country by speaking Russian? I find this very annoying and it makes the life of an ordinary Russian very difficult. Nobody even thinks about the psychological health of these people, when everyone thinks only about how bad the situation is in Ukraine. Why are people not noticing what's happening outside of Ukraine with every Russian person living abroad? It’s crazy and unfair!”

/Valentina

[TsarSamuil]

March in honor of Nazi veterans returns to EU capital.

RT.com
19 Mar, 2022 15:10

Hundreds of people marched in the Latvian capital Riga on Wednesday to honor their compatriots who fought alongside the Nazis during World War II.

Around 200 demonstrators carried the national flags of Latvia and Ukraine, as well as flowers that were laid at the foot of the Freedom Monument in the city center.

The event, which was accompanied by a large police presence, was “peaceful,” according to the local media.

There were some counter protesters, but they didn’t interfere and instead silently observed the procession.

Among them was a woman who became famous on social media in recent days for carrying a bag with a huge letter “Z,” a symbol of the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine.

This time, she had her jacket decorated with a Russian tricolor and made a victory sign with her fingers. The woman was eventually approached by officers and driven away in a service car, with police saying it was the only arrest at the event.

On March 16, the Latvian Anti-Nazi Committee usually holds counter-events as well. Law enforcement authorities believe the potential meeting of people who hold opposing views creates a risk of provocation and tension. This year, Riga City Council did not approve the application of the Latvian Anti-Nazi Committee to hold a demonstration. Taking into account the situation in the world, in order not to aggravate conflicts, the organization decided against appealing the decision of the city council, said Andrey Pagor, a representative of the committee. Instead of holding a full-scale demonstration, committee members laid flowers at the monument to the victims of the Nazis.

The controversial march honoring Latvian members of Waffen SS units had been suspended for the last two years as public gatherings were banned in the Baltic state as part of anti-coronavirus measures.

The Latvian authorities had urged the organizers to refrain from staging it this year too. The chairman of the parliament’s National Security Committee Maris Kucinskis argued that the march should be called off to avoid provocations amid the tensions caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires is the day when the soldiers of the Latvian legion, which was a part of Waffen SS, are commemorated. It has been held in the EU country annually since the 1990s, facing condemnation from Moscow, but being largely overlooked by Brussels.

Latvian authorities argue that while the legion did, in fact, technically fight on Hitler’s side, most of its members understood their role as fighting to regain independence for Latvia. Being part of the German military forces was the only way of preventing the return of Soviet occupation, Latvia says.

[TsarSamuil]

We get it, Poland, you are immensely butthurt that you didn't become a superpower..when do you plan to move on?

The only news we ever get from the Polish is that they are confrontational, aggressive, n always behaving as if someone is standing on their toes.

Stop crying like an angry little child, and grow up! You don't see the Czechs or Slovaks making anywhere near as much noise, if we could harness Polish butthurt, we could probably power the industries of the whole world...

Poland should ‘claim’ Russian region, general says.

RT.com
26 Mar, 2022 15:01

Warsaw should seek to “claim” the Kaliningrad region from Russia, General Waldemar Skrzypczak has said. The region has been “under Russian occupation since 1945,” the ex-commander of the Polish Land Forces claimed on the TV show ‘Super Express’ on Friday.

“It might be worth asking for it, as it used to be with the Regained Territories,” Skrzypczak said, referring to the eastern German territories incorporated into Poland after the defeat of Nazi Germany. “It might be worth asking for this Kaliningrad region, which, in my opinion, is part of the territory of Poland.”

After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, its East Prussia region was split between the Soviet Union and Poland. The USSR got roughly one-third of the region’s land, including the city of Konigsberg (known as Kaliningrad since then), establishing the modern Kaliningrad region. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region remained a Russian enclave, bordering Poland and Lithuania.

The bold claim voiced by Skrzypczak was blasted by Russian officials, with Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov stating that the Polish general was apparently seeking a return to the 17th century. Back then, the Duchy of Prussia was a vassal of the crown of Poland, but was never an actual part of Poland.

“I just don’t understand how Prussia turned into Poland in the general’s mind,” Alikhanov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “This, of course, is amazing. East Prussia is, strictly speaking, Germany. We remember this, apparently unlike the general.”

Given the history of modern Poland and its lands, Warsaw should not seek to change borders and voice territorial claims, Alikhanov warned.

“If all these generals are that ‘smart’ then we can remember all sorts of different historical moments, quite recent, not beyond the 20th century,” the official said. “And we will come to a conclusion that a very large part of land that is now Poland, in fact, was conquered, claimed from Nazi Germany and transferred as a gift from the Soviet to the Polish people.”

[TsarSamuil]

Russia warns against ‘games’ around its Western exclave.

RT.com
6 Apr, 2022 13:41

Moscow has cautioned neighboring European countries against the closure of their borders with Russia and Belarus pointing out that such a scenario would mean the blockade of Russia’s westernmost exclave Kaliningrad.

Earlier this week Latvian and Lithuanian officials made statements regarding the possible closure of their borders with Russia and Belarus in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, commenting on the matter, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko expressed hope that “common sense” would prevent the Europeans from “playing with fire.” Such a measure would deprive Kaliningrad residents of the opportunity to reach Russia’s main territory by land.

“I very much hope that common sense in Europe will not allow any games to be played around Kaliningrad. I think many people understand that this is playing with fire,” the deputy minister told the media.

On Tuesday, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said that the Baltic states could close their land borders with Russia and Belarus but only if all three Baltic states make a collective decision.

Pabriks was echoing a statement of the foreign minister of neighboring Lithuania – a country which borders only Russia’s westernmost exclave Kaliningrad and, unlike Latvia and Estonia, does not have a common border with country’s main territory.

According to Gabrielius Landsbergis, a “European or regional solution” is needed for border closure.

On March 31, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Andrey Deschitsa revealed that his country was involved in ongoing negotiations with Warsaw about closing the border between Poland and Belarus.

Poland and Baltic countries were known for their hard line against Russia even before Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine. Following the launch of the “special military operation” these countries have constantly called on their partners to strengthen sanctions on Moscow and have taken their own measures in this regard. Two weeks ago, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats, who Warsaw said were involved in intelligence operations threatening the security of Poland and its allies.

Lithuania was the first EU country to announce that it had “completely abandoned” Russian gas, and the first to expel a Russian ambassador. Both Lithuania and Latvia announced on Monday that they plan to downgrade their diplomatic relations with Moscow.

Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

[TsarSamuil]

Victory Day flowers stir conflict between authorities and residents in Baltic country.

RT.com
11 May, 2022 11:09

Police in Latvia have blocked access to the Liberators of Riga monument as Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins expressed his frustration at city residents twice creating a carpet of flowers, despite authorities’ attempts to prevent and remove it.

Latvian police announced on Wednesday that “in order to prevent endangering public safety” and to avoid “possible provocations” they had decided to close public access to Victory Park where the monument is located. It was explained, that following “the events of May 9 and especially May 10,” when a crowd gathered near the monument. In the opinion of the Latvian authorities, the site “is most directly related to the continuation of Latvia’s occupation after the Second World War and is actually perceived by society as a symbol of the Soviet regime.”

On May 9, when former Soviet republics celebrate Victory Day, flowers brought in by the city’s residents were removed by a tractor.

In response, on May 10, people brought even more flowers to the monument. In the evening the State Police Special Task Battalion was deployed to disperse a 500-strong crowd on the square. In a statement the police said that any gatherings on the square would be considered as an expression of “support for the Russian Federation,” apparently linking events of the Second World War with the current Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins took to social media on Tuesday to say that “disrespect towards Latvian statehood, historical experience and victims of the Russian War in Ukraine is not acceptable.”

“What is happening in Pardaugava (Riga’s area) today is not excusable. I am waiting for responsible services actions and the explanation of the Minister of Interior Marija Golubeva,” he wrote.

It remains to be clarified what exactly caused the prime minister’s displeasure.

Russian Ambassador to Latvia Mikhail Vanin called the actions of the Latvian authorities over the last days an expression of “stupidity.”

“What happened on May 10 early in the morning showed the stupidity, cowardice, and pettiness of the authorities. A tractor raking fresh flowers and burning candles was spotted near the monument, this footage quickly spread on social networks, and the next day, May 10, even more people came to the monument,” the ambassador said in a TV interview on Wednesday.

Commenting on the news about the police blocking access to the square, Vanin claimed that the Latvian authorities “were scared of the scale of support, the scale of gratitude of the inhabitants of Riga to the soldiers-liberators.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, said that the Liberators of Riga is “a monument to which people carried, carry and will carry flowers, no matter what the local authorities come up with.”

In Zakharova’s opinion, the actions of the residents of the Latvian capital, despite all obstacles, demonstrated “true people power.”

“This is a powerful, strong gesture that demonstrates the rejection of the rewriting of history and of the desacralization of the memory of people who gave their lives for our future,” she said.

World War II-related issues have long been a cause of tension between Riga and Moscow.

Latvian authorities have argued that while the Latvian legion, in fact, technically fought on Hitler’s side, most of its members understood their role as fighting to regain independence for Latvia. Being part of the German military forces was the only way of preventing the return of Soviet occupation. Moscow has condemned the commemorations of the Latvian Legionnaires.

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EU member paves way to demolishing Soviet memorial.

RT.com
12 May, 2022 13:16

Latvian lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted to renounce part of a treaty with Russia in which Riga committed to protect and maintain war memorials in the country. Thursday’s move opens the door to the removal of a monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated Riga from Nazi occupation during World War II. The location serves as a focal point for civil confrontation over the country’s historical relations with Russia.

A 1994 agreement between Moscow and Riga on the protection of retired Russian servicemen living in Latvia includes an article on the preservation of memorials. The Latvian government pledged to preserve the sites and to allow war veterans to be buried at military cemeteries. The Russian side reciprocated by pledging to take care of memorials and burial sites of Latvian victims of wars and Soviet government repressions.

In a 68-18 vote on Thursday, the Latvian parliament approved the disavowal of its commitments in order to lift the legal restrictions against demolishing Soviet-era war memorials in the country. Proponents have one particular site in mind – a memorial complex erected in Riga in 1985 to commemorate the Soviet soldiers who liberated the Latvian capital from Nazi occupation. The site includes statues of Soviet soldiers and a female figure representing the Motherland.

Latvians celebrating Victory Day on May 9 flock to the location each year to lay flowers in honor of their ancestors. This year, the event became a flashpoint after the city authorities advised people not to participate, and later used a tractor to dispose of the flowers left at the memorial. The removal on Tuesday backfired, as scores of outraged people returned with more flowers.

Latvian nationalists have been calling for the demolition of the memorial for years. In 1997, members of a radical organization planted a bomb in an attempt to damage the memorial, but the IED went off prematurely and killed two of them.

One of the MPs supporting the demolition called it a symbol of Soviet occupation – and by extension, of Russia’s attack against Ukraine – during the debate in parliament on Thursday.

“It has no place in our nation and the capital. That’s what the majority believes. By taking this decision, we will secure the right to determine for ourselves what happens with Soviet monuments in our country,” Krista Baumane of the AP! alliance said, as cited by local media.

Some opposition legislators argued that the proposal was a political ploy to whip up voter support ahead of the October general election. The city mayor said on Thursday that it was highly unlikely that the proposed demolition would happen before then.

Moscow did not immediately react to the news officially, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on social media with a single word: “ghouls.”

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MP suggests turning Soviet war memorial into prison.

RT.com
13 May, 2022 11:40

Veteran Latvian lawmaker and nationalist politician Alexander Kirstein has said that people laying flowers at a World War II memorial in Riga, in defiance of city authorities, should be incarcerated at the site and then expelled to Russia. His proposal, made on Twitter on Wednesday, targets locals who oppose their government’s stance on Russia.

The monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated Riga from Nazi occupation, serves as a focal point for yearly acts of protest in Latvia. Nationalists consider the memorial a legacy of the subjugation of their nation to Moscow, while people who cherish Latvia’s Soviet past flock to it every May 9 to commemorate the war victims with flowers.

This year the standoff was particularly intense, as city officials erected a fence around the monument, draped in the colors of national flags of Latvia and Ukraine, both as a security measure and a gesture of protest against the Russian attack on its neighbor. They then used a bulldozer to dispose of the flowers on May 10, angering those who’d left them and prompting some to come back with more tributes.

Kirstein, a veteran lawmaker who also briefly represented the country at the European Parliament after Latvia’s accession in 2004, suggested that the encircling fence could serve a more practical purpose.

“Everyone bringing flowers should have been allowed in, but the exits had to be closed. Next, install guard watchtowers and toilets, deliver porridge, and only allow out those, for whom the Russian embassy buys a one-way ticket to Moscow!” he tweeted.

Latvia formed part of various European powers, including Russia, before making a bid for sovereignty amid the collapse of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. This was cut short by World War II, which ended with Latvia and fellow Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, becoming part of the USSR.

Its current government considers that historic period a time of Russian occupation, despite the fact that the Soviet Union was a multi-national construct, whose two longest serving leaders were Georgian and Ukrainian. It now honors those who pursued independence from Moscow, including some who collaborated with the Nazis in to achieve their goals.

A large chunk of Latvia’s population are descendants of ethnic Russians, many of whom disagree with this perception of the past and use events like the Victory Day commemoration to protest against it.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova lashed out at Kirstein, suggesting his remark was not funny whatsoever. “This is the very same Nazism that supposedly does not exist” in Latvia, she said. The Russian official added that the lawmaker’s words should be of interest to Latvian courts and to international organizations tackling hate speech.

The MP’s comment came just as the Latvian parliament was gearing up to vote for a bill that would give the Riga government a legal justification to demolish the controversial monument.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the move on Thursday, though some opposition MPs suggested that it was a political stunt meant to drum up public support for nationalist parties ahead of a general election in October.

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EU state launches criminal cases over V-Day celebrations.

RT.com
13 May, 2022 16:01

Three criminal cases and 20 administrative ones have been launched against people who laid flowers at the World War II memorial in the Latvian capital, Riga, on May 10, the police said on Friday. A young man who brought Russia's national flag to the monument to Soviet soldiers has been charged with justifying genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes.

In video clips uploaded online, he was filmed addressing the crowd on the importance of remembering and celebrating the legacy of those who gave their lives in the battle against the Nazis, and urging the people not to be afraid to voice their stance. Alexander Stefanov's mother confirmed to news agency Sputnik that her son had been detained. She also said that Latvian law enforcement officers had arrived to search her home. The charges Stefanov faces could carry up to 15 years behind bars, according to the Baltic nation's laws. Several other people who came to the monument have been accused of resisting the police.

The Latvian authorities have declared May 9 – when Russia celebrates its Second World War victory over the Nazis – a day of mourning for those who died or were wounded during Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine.

The officials urged the public to refrain from gatherings near Soviet memorials and warned that attempts to display any Russian symbols would be swiftly curbed as glorification of aggression, and could lead to criminal and administrative liability.

Latvia had been a part of the USSR since 1940 and gained its independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet empire. The country's current government considers this a period of "Russian occupation."

However, numerous people still came to the monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated Riga from Nazis on May 9, laying thousands of flowers at its foot. But the next morning, the flowers were disposed-of using a bulldozer, which shocked and angered many in Latvia, a country with a quarter of predominantly Russian-speaking population.

So, the people returned to the memorial with even more flowers on May 10, eventually prompting the authorities to erect a fence around it.

On Thursday, Latvian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to renounce part of a treaty with Russia, in which it committed to protect and maintain war memorials in the country, paving the way for the removal of the Riga monument and others.


A young man holds a Russian flag near the the World War II memorial in Latvian capital, Riga. © Sputnik / Sergey Melkonov

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Protests kick off over plans to demolish WW2 memorial.

RT.com
13 May, 2022 18:35

Several hundred people attempted to gather outside Riga’s town hall on Friday as the legislature in the Latvian capital convened for an extraordinary meeting to consider demolishing a monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated the city from Nazi occupation. The move was ultimately supported by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers.

Three members of the Latvian Russian Union party, including the party’s co-chair and member of the European Parliament Tatiana Zhdanok, were briefly detained during the protest outside the town hall. Technically, the politicians were not protesting as they were seen holding placards warning citizens that the gathering had not been authorized by the authorities.

All in all, seven people were detained during the demonstration for a variety of offenses, including “petty hooliganism.” Some wore black-and-orange St. George’s ribbons, which were used on Soviet WWII victory medals, and were detained for displaying unspecified “symbols of glorification of military aggression” in public.

More protesters showed up in the city center after the decision to demolish the memorial was supported by 38 legislators, with only eight voting against. Those opposing the demolition were confronted by supporters of the move, comprising Latvian nationalists and pro-Ukrainian activists. Though the groups engaged in verbal spats, no physical confrontations were reported.

Some counter-protesters attempted to distribute leaflets, fashioned as a ‘ticket’ out of the country. The ‘tickets’ referred to the ‘passenger’ as a “vatnik” – a cotton-wool-padded jacket – a derogatory term commonly used to insult supporters of the Russian government and Russians in general.

The monument to the Soviet liberators of Riga has long been targeted by Latvian nationalists, who have called for its destruction for decades. The site was the subject of a renewed bitter spat between local residents and the authorities during the recent Victory Day celebrations.

Latvian authorities declared May 9 – when V-Day is celebrated in Russia and some other countries – a day of mourning for those who died or were wounded during the ongoing Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Numerous people still attended the monument to lay flowers, which were swept away the next day. The move sparked a public outcry, with people returning to the site with even more flowers on May 10.

The back-and-forth surrounding the Riga monument prompted the central government in Latvia to act. On Thursday, the country’s parliament overwhelmingly voted to unilaterally renounce part of a treaty with Russia, in which Latvia pledged to protect and maintain war memorials in the country. The move paved the way for the demolition of the memorial, as well as for the potential destruction of other Soviet-era monuments in the country, a quarter of whose citizens are predominantly Russian-speaking.

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Mother condemns son’s arrest over Russian flag.

RT.com
15 May, 2022 13:09

The mother of a young Latvian man, who is facing charges for brandishing a Russian flag during World War Two Victory Day celebrations in the EU country’s capital, has insisted that his arrest was groundless.

Alexander Stefanov was detained by police on May 10 near a monument commemorating Soviet soldiers in Riga. He had a Russian national flag with him, and was charged with justifying genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes.

The Latvian authorities said that this year, instead of celebrating Victory Day, the country would mourn those who died or were wounded in Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine. They banned the display of any Russian or Soviet symbols, warning that it would be considered glorification of “aggression,” and could lead to criminal and administrative liability.

Alexander’s mother Svetlana Stefanova told RT that her son could face up to five years in prison if convicted, but a lighter punishment like probation or a fine was also possible.

Her son’s treatment by the Latvian police was totally unexpected, the woman said, especially considering that, according to her, Alexander did nothing wrong.

The young man had engaged with police about the display of Russian symbols during Victory Day celebrations on Monday, with officers telling him that they were only banned on May 8 and May 9, she said.

Alexander returned to the memorial on Tuesday, May 10, together with many other people, who were shocked and angered after learning that thousands of flowers they had laid at the foot of the monument a day before had been removed by a bulldozer.

This time, he was bearing a Russian flag, confident that he wasn’t violating any rules, but was still approached by officers.

“They had a long communication, but the police eventually apologized to him and let him go,” Svetlana recalled. Alexander was able to lay flowers at the monument to the Soviet troops who liberated Riga from the Nazis, but “an hour later when he was leaving the square, he was arrested,” she added.

“What kind of liability can there be” when displaying the Russian flag wasn’t apparently illegal on May 10, the woman wondered.

She said her home had been searched as part of the case against her son, and officers seized a hard drive and a SIM card.

Svetlana declined to discuss persecution of the Russian-speaking minority, which accounts for around a quarter of Latvia’s population. “I’m not a political person,” she said, adding that she could only think about rescuing her son.

Latvia was part of the USSR from 1940 and gained its independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country’s current authorities consider this to have been a period of “Russian occupation.”

Meanwhile, the Soviet monument in Riga is under threat of demolition after Latvian lawmakers voted on Thursday to renounce part of a treaty with Russia, in which the country committed to protecting and maintaining war memorials.



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[TsarSamuil]

Russian exclave dismisses renaming call from Poland.

RT.com
16 May, 2022 13:30

The governor of Kaliningrad has ridiculed a proposal from a former Polish defence minister to rename and demilitarise the Russian exclave.

Governor Anton Alikhanov told local media that the suggestion from Romuald Szeremietiew showed that the Polish official has no understanding of geopolitics, and accused him of competing in Russophobia with Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

“They are expanding NATO, but it’s us who are supposed to demilitarize? I believe there is something wrong with the way Poles think,” Alikhanov said.

Szeremietiew, a conservative politician who briefly served as defense minister in the 1990s and later as a member of parliament, earlier gave an interview to Polish media, discussing Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO and Russia’s reaction, and also the future of Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave that shares a border with Poland.

“We must ask that Kaliningrad was no longer named after the criminal Kalinin, who is co-responsible for the Katyn massacre,” he said.

The Katyn massacre was the mass execution of some 22,000 Poles, most of them military officers captured by Soviet forces in Poland in 1939, on the orders of Joseph Stalin. The city of Kaliningrad and the region around it are named after Soviet official Mikhail Kalinin, who held several senior posts in the Bolshevik and Soviet governments. He was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party, the executive body that in March 1940 gave the order to kill the Polish prisoners. Many Soviet documents detailing the atrocity were declassified long after the USSR collapsed.

In addition to renaming Kaliningrad, Szeremietiew also wants the Russian military to be disarmed there. The region is located on the Baltic coast between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, has no land link to mainland Russia, and serves as a key military stronghold for the country.

“This region must be demilitarized, because NATO cannot sit on a powder keg placed between its legs,” the Polish politician argued.

Szeremietiew welcomed the planned expansion of NATO into Sweden and Poland, saying it will strengthen the bloc – and by extension Poland – and turn the Baltic Sea into a “NATO Sea”. He predicted that Russia’s reaction to it would be limited to “howling” and threatening NATO allies with nuclear weapons, and that Ukraine would soon defeat Russian troops attacking the country, which would then result in the collapse and disintegration of Russia.

In response, Governor Alikhanov suggested that Szeremietiew was in a Russiophobia competition with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, an outspoken critic of Moscow. The premier argued in a recent opinion piece that Moscow was trying to destroy the West and should be treated the same way Nazi Germany was after its defeat in World War II.

Russia considers NATO a hostile military organization serving the interest of the US. It has warned it will respond to the expected accession of Sweden and Finland by adjusting its military posture. Kaliningrad hosts significant Russian forces, with surface-to-surface tactical missiles in range of southern Sweden.

Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.