Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register KIMBARTA, Lithuania, June 21 (Reuters) – Russia’s threat to punish Lithuania for blocking railway shipments in the Kaliningrad enclave of Moscow on Tuesday shook the nerves of residents living in the opposite to prevent any possible military action. Lithuania has closed the route to transport steel and other ferrous metals, which it says has to do with EU sanctions that took effect on Saturday, angering Russian officials who have threatened “serious repercussions”. read more Vitalijus Sidiskis, a 59-year-old insurance worker, said that while he believed it was difficult to predict what Russia could do, he would remain calm about Lithuania’s accession to the European Union and NATO. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Nothing bad will happen … because Lithuania is in NATO and the European Union,” he told Reuters. “I do not think they will attack us aggressively.” Kaliningrad, the former port of Koenigsberg, the capital of East Prussia, was occupied by Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. It is stuck between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its allies imposed some of the harshest sanctions in modern history, a move by the Kremlin to declare economic war. Other residents of the border town of nearly 6,000 said the threats from Russia had overshadowed other problems, such as high inflation that hit the pockets of many Lithuanians. “We are working close to the border and the shootings and maneuvers are a little worrying,” said Galina Mateikuniene, a 52-year-old seamstress. “We are probably more afraid of war, of invasion. The economy is the economy.” Nearly one million Russians live in the Baltic port city, which is connected to the rest of Russia by rail through Lithuania, which is a member of the EU and NATO. Many Russians crossed the border to buy goods in places like Laima Kudirkiene’s small flower shop. The 47-year-old Lithuanian swore to stay in Kybartai despite the uncertain future and said it was a pity to lose contact with Russian customers visiting her store. “They were celebrating a birthday and getting married,” he said. “It was a normal routine. I do not know how they live now because the connection has been broken.” Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the fascists. Kyiv and its Western backers say this is a false pretext for waging an unprovoked offensive war. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Janis Laizans? Writes Michael Kahn. Edited by: Lisa Shumaker Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
