REFERENCE: The Baltic States Move (Part II)

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The following references are associated with Part II - The War » Preclude To War » The Geopolitical Chess Player » The Baltic States Move

NARRATIVE

Kalingrad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Guards_Tank_Army

The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The army fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. ... After the end of the Cold War and the resultant withdrawal of Soviet units in Germany, the army was relocated to Smolensk, and disbanded in 1999. The army was reformed in 2014 as part of Russia's military expansion. This reformed army fought in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, where it is said to have suffered heavy casualties following its eventual retreats from the Northeast and later Kharkiv.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Army_Corps_(Russian_Federation)

The corps was formed on 1 April 2016, and operates from Kaliningrad Oblast

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad

As a major transport hub, with sea and river ports, the city is home to the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy, and is one of the largest industrial centres in Russia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, romanized: Kaliningradskaya oblast) is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administrative centre of the province (oblast) is the city of Kaliningrad, formerly known as Königsberg. The port city of Baltiysk is Russia's only port on the Baltic Sea that remains ice-free in winter. Kaliningrad Oblast had a population of roughly 1 million in the Russian Census of 2021.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_transit_to_Kaliningrad_Oblast

A series of restrictions on transit through Lithuania between the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast and mainland Russia were implemented during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions extended only to sanctioned goods and began on 18 June 2022. It was lifted one month later on 23 July. ... Russia and Lithuania negotiated the simplified transit regime to Kaliningrad in late 1990s. Initially, Russia pushed for a right to have a military corridor, but Lithuania refused as it would breach the country's sovereignty.

 

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1143876/russia-s-military-corridor-in-lithuania-that-never-was

Russia’s Kaliningrad wedged between Poland and Lithuania is a headache for NATO commanders today. Some 20 years ago, the exclave also nearly ground Lithuania’s EU aspirations to a halt.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_question

In the 1950s, Nikita Khrushchev suggested that the Lithuanian SSR should annex Kaliningrad Oblast. The offer was refused by the Lithuanian Communist Party leader Antanas Sniečkus, who did not wish to alter the ethnic composition of his republic.

 

Suwalki Gap

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/suwalki-gap-40-mile-line-nato-ready-go-war-russia-over-52172

The trip-wire concept only works if NATO can promptly counterattack with its 40,000-strong response force. That means traversing the Suwalki gap, as Baltic airspace and maritime lines of communication would be heavily interdicted by Russian missiles.

 

Baltic States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states

All three are today liberal democracies, with unicameral parliaments elected by popular vote for four-year terms: Riigikogu in Estonia, Saeima in Latvia and Seimas in Lithuania. In Latvia and Estonia, the president is elected by parliament, while Lithuania has a semi-presidential system whereby the president is elected by popular vote. All are part of the European Union (EU) and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_the_Baltic_states

Russians in the Baltic states is a broadly defined subgroup of the Russian diaspora who self-identify as ethnic Russians, or are citizens of Russia, and live in one of the three independent countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. As of 2021, there were nearly 900,000 ethnic Russians in the three countries, having declined from ca 1.7 million in 1989, the year of the last census during the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_distribution_of_Russian_speakers

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, about 25 million Russians (about a sixth of the former Soviet Russians) found themselves outside Russia and were about 10% of the population of the post-Soviet states other than Russia. Millions of them later became refugees from various interethnic conflicts.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_column

A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia)

By definition in Latvian law, non-citizens are not stateless. While they have rights akin to citizens, for example, the right to reside in Latvia without visas or temporary residence permits, rights in other areas are curtailed. Non-citizens cannot vote, although they can participate to a lesser degree in public policy through NGOs. Pension rights are limited, and non-citizens cannot hold certain positions in local and national government, the civil service, and other governmental entities. Non-citizens are exempt from military service, which was compulsory for male Latvian citizens until 2006. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described non-citizens' position as discriminatory in 1999.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balts

The Balts or Baltic peoples (Lithuanian: baltai, Latvian: balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states

After reoccupying the Baltic states, the Soviets implemented a program of sovietization, which was achieved through large-scale industrialisation rather than by overt attacks on culture, religion or freedom of expression. The Soviets carried out massive deportations to eliminate any resistance to collectivisation or support of partisans. Baltic partisans, such as the Forest Brothers, continued to resist Soviet rule through armed struggle for a number of years.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-s-secret-plans-for-baltic-states-exposed/ar-AA1amO5X

The Kremlin has drawn up a series of plans that outline how it can exert its influence in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over the coming years, an investigation has revealed.

 

PICTORIAL