Russia warns Lithuania as economic impact of war on Ukraine spreads

Moscow has threatened to retaliate against Lithuania if it refuses to lift a ban on transit of sanctioned goods to the Kaliningrad region, as a top European Union official said Russia’s blockade of millions of tonnes of grain in Ukrainian ports amounted to a “war crime”.

Tension grew over Kaliningrad, a heavily militarised Russian exclave sandwiched between the Baltic Sea and EU and Nato states Lithuania and Poland, as Kyiv warned of intensified Russian attacks this week as the EU decides whether to make Ukraine a candidate member.

Russian forces in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine claimed to have captured the towns of Toshkivka and Metyolkine near the city of Severodonetsk, where fierce fighting has now raged for weeks, and missile strikes were reported in the government-controlled port of Odesa hours after Russia said Ukraine had struck gas drilling platforms in the Black Sea.

“If in the near future cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests,” Moscow’s foreign ministry in a statement on Monday.

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The ministry summoned Lithuania’s top diplomat in Moscow to complain about what it called “provocative” and “openly hostile” steps taken by the Baltic state, which has strongly supported Ukraine since Russia launched its full invasion nearly four months ago.

Lithuania insisted that the ban introduced on Saturday on transit of coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology to Kaliningrad was merely the implementation of EU sanctions on Russia, and not a unilateral measure. The list of barred items is set to expand over the coming months to include products ranging from vodka to oil.

“This decision is really unprecedented. It’s a violation of absolutely everything … We consider this illegal. The situation is more than serious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of developments around Kaliningrad, which Russia can still supply unhindered via the Baltic Sea.

The economic fallout is growing from Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which has killed thousands of people and displaced some 14 million, and Moscow is now reducing or halting gas flow to several EU states and its navy is blockading Ukrainian ports, preventing the export of some 20 million tonnes of grain and fuelling fears of a food crisis.

[ Russian energy squeeze: Coal makes comeback as Europe prepares for winter shortfall ]

“The rest of the world will not be affected by what is happening in Kaliningrad, but the rest of the world is very much affected by what is happening in Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.

“It is inconceivable, one cannot imagine that millions of tonnes of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine while in the rest of the world, people are suffering [from] hunger. This is a real war crime ... You cannot use the hunger of people as a weapon of war,” he added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this would be a “historic week” for his country, when he hopes EU leaders will grant it official candidate-member status.

“Obviously, we should expect greater hostile activity from Russia ... And not only against Ukraine, but also against other European countries. We are preparing. We are ready. We warn partners,” he said.

Russian missiles reportedly hit Odesa on Monday afternoon, hours after Ukrainian forces allegedly struck two gas drilling platforms in the Black Sea that Russia seized in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.