Built between Lithuania and Poland – both members of the European Union and NATO – Kaliningrad is located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. It receives most of its supplies via routes through Lithuania and Belarus. Lithuania said in mid-June that it would ban the transit of EU-certified goods to Kaliningrad, including coal, metals and construction materials, through its territory. The Kremlin called the move “unprecedented and illegal” and called on a top EU diplomat in Moscow to protest. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said the response would have a “serious” impact on the Lithuanian people. See what you need to know about this isolated Russian enclave and how it is involved in the war in Ukraine.
