Russia-Ukraine war: First train carrying sanctioned goods reaches Kaliningrad

In a big development from the Russia-Ukraine war, the first train carrying sanctioned cargo whose movement had previously been barred by Lithuania has recently arrived in the Kaliningrad region, the press secretary for the regional governor of Kaliningrad, Dmitry Lyskov told Interfax. He said, “It was the first train which delivered sanctioned goods, which were banned for transit to the Kaliningrad region by Lithuania and the European Union since June 17, to the region.” 

Further, Lyskov highlighted that this restriction was partially relaxed on July 13 and transportation has been authorised since July 22. “The train that arrived comprises 60 freight cars with cement," quoting Lyskov, Interfax reported.  

In addition to this, regional governor Anton Alikhanov was cited by the Russian news outlet Tass as saying, "It is indeed the first train to have arrived after the EU decision ... [it is] quite an important achievement.”  

'It is a "milestone event" for the Kaliningrad area'

According to Lyskov, it is a 'milestone event' for the Kaliningrad area. And for this very reason, Governor Anton Alikhanov, who worked closely with federal officials, who took an active part in helping Russia break through Lithuania's and the EU's partial blockade on the region, arrived at the station to welcome the train carrying sanctioned cargo, Interfax reported. 

Since the arrival of the train, the regional governor said that additional sanctioned cargos must travel in transit through Lithuania without restriction. Lyskov further added, “At the same time, the regional authorities will continue actively developing the sea line of cargo transit which is currently being successfully serviced by railway ferries and various bulk carriers," as per the report from Interfax. 

In addition to this, the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad uses a rail link to Russia via Lithuania for both freight and passengers. Moreover, the European Union had previously stated that Lithuania should allow Russia to move items including concrete, timber, and alcohol into the exclave via EU territory and that the transit ban only applied to road, not rail transportation. 

As per a BBC report, Russia was enraged and threatened with retaliation after Lithuania placed EU limitations last month on the transport of steel and other ferrous metals. Lithuanian Railways, however, recently declared that it would keep delivering goods to the exclave. 

It is important to remember that Kaliningrad, where a million people currently live, was captured by Russia after World War Two. For supplies, Kaliningrad has relied heavily on transit routes through Lithuania. But this month, Lithuania began imposing EU prohibitions on a variety of Russian imports, including building supplies, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a consequence, the goods could not travel through Lithuania to get to Kaliningrad, BBC reported. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)