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

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

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

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

'It is a "milestone event" for Kaliningr area'

According to Lyskov, it is a 'milestone event' for Kaliningr 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 EU's partial blocke on region, arrived at station to welcome train carrying sanctioned cargo, Interfax reported. 

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

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

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

It is important to remember that Kaliningr, where a million people currently live, was captured by Russia after World War Two. For supplies, Kaliningr 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, goods could not travel through Lithuania to get to Kaliningr, BBC reported. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)