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A 68-year-old Russian man, who travelled from the Russian Baltic sea enclave of Kaliningrad to Lithuania by river was met by border guards on the riverbank on Thursday afternoon and was sent back without being granted asylum.
“After the swim, he was provided with dry clothing,” Lithuania’s State Border Guard press service told Euronews. “More details about his journey, such as the exact distance covered, the route or how long he was in the water, cannot currently be provided.”
The man allegedly told Lithuanian authorities that he was fleeing Russia because of persecution over his activity on social media, according to the Lrytas news portal.
But after assessing the circumstances, “inconsistent” information provided by the man and “information concerning the threat posed by this person if he were to enter the EU”, Lithuanian authorities decided to return him, a spokesperson for Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, Giedrius Mišutis, told Lrytas.
It is unusual for people to attempt to enter Lithuania from Russia by swimming across the Nemunas. Nevertheless, Lithuanian border guards continuously monitor the section of the river using technical surveillance equipment, meaning such incidents can be detected and responded to immediately, the service said.
The incident comes as the Baltic state is operating under heightened security pressure along the European Union’s eastern frontier: Lithuania borders Belarus, a close Russian ally, as well as Russia’s heavily militarised Kaliningrad exclave.
The country has recorded multiple drone incursions, with the latest being one on Monday, when a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone after it entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus.
Since 2021, Vilnius has also had to contend with what the EU has described as a weaponisation of migration by Belarus and Russia, after thousands of migrants were directed towards the bloc’s eastern borders. This has prompted Lithuania to reinforce surveillance, border infrastructure and staffing along its frontier.