Disinfo: Lithuania’s ban on cargo transit to Kaliningrad is a blockade ordered by Western countries

Summary

Lithuania's decision to ban Russian cargo on its territory is a blockade ordered by Western countries and is a violation of international norms.

Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about EU sanctions.

Implementing the EU sanctions, Lithuania applied restrictions to specific categories of goods that are transported by rail, via the EU territory, to and from Kaliningrad.

As foreseen in the fourth package of EU sanctions, which was adopted on 15 March 2022, the EU's restrictive measures on imports into and transit through the EU of Russian steel and other ferrous metal products definitively entered into force on 17 June 2022.

The transit of passengers and non-sanctioned goods to and from the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania continues uninterrupted. Lithuania has not imposed any unilateral, individual, or additional restrictions on the transit.

EU sanctions following Russia’s armed aggression in Donbas, illegal annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target the Kremlin’s ability to finance the military aggression against Ukraine. These are restrictions imposed in accordance with international and European law as a response to violations of international legalities, such as Russia’s actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The EU established the sanctions regime under its laws, specifically Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, "concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine."

Read also the related stories on the illegality of Western sanctions: US, Canada, Switzerland to blame for a surge in food and energy prices due to illegal sanctions on Russia, Sanctions against Russia are illegal, Russia was subjected to illegal sanctions, New Western sanctions against Belarus are illegal, inhumane and cynical, UK sanctions on Russia are illegal, Western sanctions are illegal and hostile actions.

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  • Reported in: Issue 299
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22/06/2022
  • Article language(s) Georgian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Lithuania, Russia
  • Keywords: Kaliningrad, Sanctions
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Disinfo: Foreigners who join the Ukrainian army are criminals and Russia is not supposed to comply with Geneva convention

Foreign volunteers will come up against criminal questions because there is the International Convention against the recruitment, use, financing and instruction of mercenaries.

Foreign mercenaries are not volunteers. They are not lawful combatants and are not covered by the Geneva Convention. The real volunteers are the French Normandie-Neman regiment, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army, who participated with us in the Berlin operation in 1945, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War war. We will always remember their selfless help.

Jun 21, 2022
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that foreigners fighting for Ukraine are mercenaries and should not be protected under the Geneva Conventions, while on the contrary people fighting against Ukraine are volunteers and should be protected if taken prisoners.

Ukraine called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian army and not mercenaries.

Disinfo: Poland might create a Nazi state in the western part of Ukraine

The preparation of the Polish military for a ‘peaceful mission’ in Ukraine is underway. Probably a separate Nazi state will be created in Western Ukraine under Polish control, with the US’s permission. The Poles are probably waiting for the Russian tanks to reach the Lviv and Volyn regions before entering their troops. Furthermore, they would need a green light from Americans, because Washington ultimately decides about this turn of events. The only thing beyond doubt is that the Russian troops will definitely reach the Polish border.

Jun 21, 2022
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about doomed Ukrainian statehood, Nazi Ukraine and West , US-controlled Poland, and Polish aggressive imperial ambitions.

There is no proof whatsoever of alleged covert plans of Warsaw to entry troops into Ukraine, to take over its western part, and to create a 'Nazi' country there, as alleged in the article. This narrative exploits difficult issues in Polish-Ukrainian history, without any factual basis. Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders and has no territorial claims upon Ukraine. Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.

Disinfo: Lithuania is a country with a limited sovereignty

This is not a casus belli just yet - that would be the full blockade of the Kaliningrad district. The current situation is the testing of waters for the full blockade and testing of Russia's reaction. And this is not done by Lithuania, as Vilnius admits itself, but by the big Western partners. By Brussels, but also, I [Maria Zakharova] suspect London and Washington.

They are themselves afraid of what they are doing, but they do it anyway. Lithuania is a country that does not have a full-fledged sovereignty. Lithuania is a country with a limited sovereignty. It does what its handlers in Washington, Brussels and London tell it to do.

By the way, the Russophobes in the whole of Eastern Europe, in Vilnius and in Kyiv, are controlled by London.

Jun 21, 2022
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about sanctions.

Implementing the EU sanctions, Lithuania applied restrictions to specific categories of goods that are transported by rail, via the EU territory, to and from Kaliningrad.