“Russia is concerned about its access to Kaliningrad, actions in the Baltic Sea, and Russia is very concerned about the security of critical infrastructure in Kaliningrad, especially regarding the ability to defend against potential attacks from Ukraine. Therefore, Russia has increased its military forces in the Baltic Sea, and this has a negative impact on our region,” an official said on Sunday during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Democracy and Security Committee meeting in the Lithuanian Parliament.
According to him, Russia has taken additional measures to protect its shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea.
“If necessary, Russia provides air support to this shadow fleet. Estonia observed this when Russia violated Estonian airspace,” J. Katinas claimed.
According to him, Kaliningrad is important to Russia as a non-freezing port, and the Baltic Sea as a way to access the North Sea.
“Kaliningrad is currently used as a center to support Russian forces fighting in Syria and Africa. And indeed, as long as Russia operates in Africa and Syria, it is supported by a support center in Kaliningrad. 50 percent of Russia’s oil is exported through the Baltic Sea. So this is a very important element of protecting Russia’s budget,” noted the AOTD representative.
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He stated that, among other measures, Russia uses GPS jammers in the Baltic Sea.
“Lithuanian citizens experience disruptions at sea and in the air. Lithuanian ornithologists also complain that they cannot track bird migration due to GPS jamming,” said J. Katinas.
According to the Lithuanian military intelligence representative, although the presence of ground forces in Kaliningrad is currently reduced due to the war in Ukraine, Russia has been conducting military reform for some time, and one of its elements is strengthening forces in the Kaliningrad region.
“After the war against Ukraine ends or is frozen, Russia will be able to redeploy a large part of its military forces from the Ukrainian front line to the borders of the Baltic Sea,” the official said.
This weekend, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session is taking place in Vilnius, with the main focus on security and strengthening defense.
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