Contents tagged with Kaliningrad

  • Sweden strengthens air defense systems on Gotland island to counteract Russia

    On July 1, Swedish Armed Forces reported that Swedish authorities had strengthened air defense on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. The new surface-to-air missile system has been deployed on the island due to the tense relations with Russia. The new system that is produced by Saab company will replace a previously used mobile air defense system.

    "From a military-strategic point of view, Gotland is an important region," said the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Bydén. …

  • Russia deploys a battery of S-400 missile systems in Kaliningrad region

    The press service for the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russia deployed a battery of Triumph S-400 missile system in the Kaliningrad region.

    According to the Russian military, the systems will protect the airspace of the most western region of Russia and are part of the anti-aircraft missile regiment of the air defense of the Baltic Fleet.

    The S-400 arrived from the Astrakhan region, where they conducted test combat shooting.

    The Russian S-400 is designed to defend airspace and …

  • Polish officer: Russia made Kaliningrad region a ‘military scarecrow’

    Colonel of the Reserve Marek Wrzosek called the Kaliningrad region of Russia a “military scarecrow” because of the number of weapons deployed there. The Colonel noted that Moscow has recently been increasing equipment stationed near the western borders of the country.

    Earlier this week, air defenses in the Kaliningrad region were reinforced with a regiment of S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems. Wrzosek also referred to reports by Russian media in early March regarding the transfer of …

  • Poland accuses European Commission of acting in Russia’s interests

    The Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation of Poland, Marek Grubarchik, expressed his opinion that protests against the construction of the canal through the Vistula (Baltic) Spit, which should connect the Baltic Sea to the Vistula Lagoon started because of Russia, reports Polish Radio. 

    According to the radio station, the European Commission initiated a meeting with Poland’s representatives, after it announced the start of the shipping canal construction work. The European Union …

  • Lithuanian special services: Belarus is a 'buffer state' in Russian military doctrine

    According to the Annual Threat Assessment prepared by two Lithuanian special services, the Department of State Security and Military Intelligence of Lithuania, Russia consistently strengthens military facilities in the Kaliningrad region, however, the additional NATO forces deployed in the Baltic region and the growing national forces of Baltic countries reduce the likelihood of conflict, Interfax reported.

    “The [Russian] military group deployed in the region is consistently being strengthened: …

  • Poland plans to build an island in the Baltic Sea

    Poland plans to build an artificial island with an area of more than 18 hectares in the Vistula Lagoon also known as Kaliningrad Gulf, Polish newspaper Onet reported with a reference to the government tender documents.

    The island will be built in Poland's territorial waters in the Vistula Lagoon in Poland. The island will be made from the soil that will be extracted during the construction of the navigable channel going through the Vistula Spit (Baltiyskaya Kosa).

    According to the proposed …

  • Russia to continue gas transit to Kaliningrad through Lithuania

    The governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov said on TV channel Vesti 24 that despite the launch of a terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Kaliningrad region would not refuse to transit gas through the territory of Belarus and Lithuania.

    "The Kaliningrad Region does not plan to abandon gas supplies through the Minsk-Vilnius-Kaunas-Kaliningrad trunk pipeline system due to the commissioning of a gas receiving terminal and a floating regasification platform. The …

  • Russia sends guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk to the Black Sea

    On Wednesday morning, the guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk (hull number 519) of the Russian Northern Fleet  entered the Black Sea, as reported by Bosphorus Strait marine spotter Yoruk Isik, on his Twitter blog.

    “Russia brings real fire power to Black Sea. Backbone of the Fleet: Project 1155 Northern Fleet Udaloy class destroyer, armed with SA-N-9 Gauntlet/Kinzhal & SS-N-14 Silex/Rastrub & 533mm torpedoes, Severomorsk 619 transited Bosphorus en route to Sevastopol,” Yoruk Isik wrote.

    The …

  • Russia considers changing conditions for use of nuclear weapons

    Participants in the round table of the Russian Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee have advised the Russian Security Council to update its conditions for the use of nuclear weapons, Deutsche Welle reports, citing the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

    “The interdepartmental commission of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on military security proposes that the following matters be considered: the drafting of a new version of ‘Basis of the Russian Federation’s policy …

  • Putin: Russians would go to heaven in nuclear war

    During a session of the Valdai Discussion Club ,Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will “never be the initiator of military action, including the use of nuclear weaponry”, but in the event of a nuclear strike, all Russians will “go to heaven”.

    “An aggressor must know that retaliation is unavoidable. We, the victims of aggression, we will go to heaven like martyrs. But they will just die, because they won’t even have time to repent,” Putin remarked.

    He also emphasized that …