Kaliningrad can defend itself amid NATO military buildup near its borders — lawmaker

KALININGRAD, June 26. /TASS/. Weapons deployed in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad are enough to repel any potential NATO attack amid the alliance’s military buildup near the Russian region’s border, Russian lawmaker Andrey Kolesnik has told TASS.

The statement came as a response to remarks by Commander of NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) Lt. Gen. Dariusz Parylak, who said that NATO countries are significantly boosting their military presence near the Suwalki Gap, a critically important strip of land along the Polish-Lithuanian border, which is the only land route connecting the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) to the rest of the European Union and NATO allies.

"He is not the first general to declare a military buildup near our borders, the Suwalki Gap in particular. Our potential adversary’s armed forces are aimed precisely at the Kaliningrad Region. Everyone in the region understands that," said Kolesnik, who is a member of the Defense Committee of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma. "If necessary, the Kaliningrad Region can protect itself on its own by delivering a missile strike at any European capital."

"These missiles can carry various types of warheads," Kolesnik continued. "That is why Europe needs to understand that if Dutch, German and other regiments are deployed near our borders, nobody is going to repel their attack with pistols. They also need to understand that ‘mainland’ Russia, with all its might, will defend our westernmost region."

In his words, several squadrons of fighter aircraft and strategic bombers have already been deployed near Russia’s borders. One of them is headquartered in the Polish town of Malbork around 40 km from the Kaliningrad border, and another - in the Lithuanian city of Marijampole around 60 km away from the Russian territory.

During the combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference headlined Results of the Year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will eliminate all the threats to its westernmost exclave of the Kaliningrad Region if they emerge but hopes that there won’t be any. The head of state warned that threats to blockade the region would lead to a large-scale armed conflict.

The Suwalki Gap is a 65-kilometer-wide stretch of land between Poland and Lithuania, strategically situated between Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and its ally Belarus. Its closure could effectively isolate Lithuania from its Western NATO allies.