I once half-jokingly asked a group of my lithuanian friends if they’d like to take over kaliningrad oblast if it becomes available in the melee.
It was met with a face of disgust. After being under russian control they see it as more work than the land is worth (plus the chunk of population they want nothing to do with).
would make a nice parking lot for a Lithuanian Walmart. Russia doesnt need a seaport.
I think the one situation in which taking over Kaliningrad would make sense is if there was a serious russian opposition movement.
If a group of russian and Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine plus support from surrounding countries could effectively take over the Kaliningrad government, that would provide a base for an ‘alternative Russia’ to be established. It would have no strategic benefits for Ukraine but politically it would be a piece of western aligned ‘russia but not under putin’ which is a haven for any Russians, or Belarusians with an alternative vision of the future.
Plus losing more russian territory in a location where there is no possibility of taking it back, would be another embarrassing blow to putin.
Sadly I’ve not seen any evidence of a serious alternative political movement for russia. The political exiles all seem to disagree with each other.
(Either that or Denmark should take it, and re-establish the Jomsviking colony of Jomsborg, which was originally a bit further west).
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I once half-jokingly asked a group of my lithuanian friends if they’d like to take over kaliningrad oblast if it becomes available in the melee.
It was met with a face of disgust. After being under russian control they see it as more work than the land is worth (plus the chunk of population they want nothing to do with).
would make a nice parking lot for a Lithuanian Walmart. Russia doesnt need a seaport.
I think the one situation in which taking over Kaliningrad would make sense is if there was a serious russian opposition movement.
If a group of russian and Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine plus support from surrounding countries could effectively take over the Kaliningrad government, that would provide a base for an ‘alternative Russia’ to be established. It would have no strategic benefits for Ukraine but politically it would be a piece of western aligned ‘russia but not under putin’ which is a haven for any Russians, or Belarusians with an alternative vision of the future.
Plus losing more russian territory in a location where there is no possibility of taking it back, would be another embarrassing blow to putin.
Sadly I’ve not seen any evidence of a serious alternative political movement for russia. The political exiles all seem to disagree with each other.
(Either that or Denmark should take it, and re-establish the Jomsviking colony of Jomsborg, which was originally a bit further west).
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