For Russians of Lithuanian origin living in Kaliningrad, Lithuania is the only chance to stay alive?
Russians of Lithuanian origin living in Kaliningrad may flee to Lithuania due to Vladimir Putin’s mobilization. The Lithuanian authorities decided that those Russians who have Lithuanian roots and the same document will be admitted to Lithuania. True, the Migration Department says that there are only a few thousand such Russians in the whole country, and according to the border guards, none of them have tried to enter Lithuania since Friday. Sigitas Šamborskis, chairman of the Kaliningrad Lithuanian community, says that this number is ten times higher in Kaliningrad alone. This is what was discussed with him in the LNK report.
– How do you assess the decision of the Lithuanian authorities to allow Russians with Lithuanian roots to flee to Lithuania?
– This is perhaps their only chance to stay alive. They can return to Lithuania and bring their families home. These are young people who will be useful to Lithuania.
– Why was this decision not made earlier?
– These are political and security reasons. Fears that perhaps Russian Lithuanians are not all loyal to Lithuania and Ukraine. These fears are mostly unfounded because those people are innocent of the war. They are mostly grandchildren and great-grandchildren of our political exiles. They are Russian speakers, it is more difficult for them in Lithuania, but when you talk to them, they are definitely not for V. Putin, the war. These are our people.
– What would you say to politicians who ask where their loyalties were before, once the war started?
– No one expected that it turned into a matter of such magnitude. It was assumed that contractors who only want to fight for money will not touch. Let’s not forget that they all have families, jobs, living space, but in Lithuania they have nothing and no one is waiting for them here. Then it is understandable why they were in no hurry to flee to Lithuania. The withdrawal process has happened before, but until the people were directly threatened, they did not move.
– How many people with Lithuanian roots could there be in Kaliningrad?
– Official statistics show 10 thousand. people’s native language is Lithuanian. There are still about 20,000 Russian-speaking Lithuanians who have only just found out that, for example, their grandmother is Lithuanian.
“Evidence, trials can take longer than drafts, right?”
– Yes, but if you don’t start, you won’t win. We have archives, although not all documents survive, but people find opportunities, find relatives they never knew.
– How many persons of Lithuanian origin, who are still in Kaliningrad, are living at the front?
– A lot. Last week alone, 50 young men were taken from the town of Chernyshevskoye, seventeen of whom are of Lithuanian origin.
The entire LNK report is in the video:
– Could it be that persons of Lithuanian origin are called earlier than Russians?
– Such suspicions arise because men from the border areas, who are poorer and more ethnically mixed, are called up and taken away. The city of Kaliningrad itself remains for later.
– Those people live, watch pro-Russian, propaganda shows. Why does their attitude change after a week in Lithuania?
– They learned the truth that we know, and not the propaganda they are fed.
– Do you know how many people do not have any international document that would allow them to travel to another country?
– Such persons are inseparable. You should go to the consular service and request asylum. Then maybe you can issue some document. Without a document, even on the Russian side they would not be released.