At the end of January, an event took place that did not gain publicity in the media. However, it became iconic because Putin freely flew a plane over the territory of Lithuania and Poland. Such “testing” of the reaction of NATO countries took place for the first time after the outbreak of the war against Ukraine. How did the Russian authorities explain what happened?
Not scary
The visit took place immediately after the downing of a Russian military plane, which, according to the Russians, was used to transport Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange. The “leaky” air defense systems were evidenced not only by this fact but also by many others that have been taking place recently on the territory of Russia. However, this presidential flight became a manifesto for Russians, which seemed to carry the message: “I’m not afraid because everything is under control.”
This can be understood from the very essence of the visit: the goal was a meeting with young people, which cannot be called necessary or relevant at the moment, especially considering the situation in the country.
However, the spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation stated that this is a planned event that is not related to the largest NATO military exercises that are currently underway. Visiting the regions is a direct duty of Putin, which he systematically performs to promote their development.
Uncorked
The “highlight” of the situation is that Kaliningrad is an enclave separated from Russia by the territories of Poland and Lithuania. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was blocked for some time, and for some reason then, the President did not make any scheduled or unscheduled visits there.
Some experts believe that Putin thus opened the air route to Kaliningrad for official aviation. Then, it will be able to be used by less high-rank persons. This “corridor of opportunities” is very important, especially because of the Kremlin’s growing aggression towards the Baltics.
Time will tell how events will unfold, but the fact that the President did not fly here out of an irresistible desire to communicate with local students is not even worth discussing.
