Poland and Estonia on Saturday expressed concerns that Russia has moved nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles into Kaliningrad, a Russian region on the Baltic Sea, with one official saying Russia appears eager to dominate that body of water.
Meanwhile, Russia said the missiles are being deployed as part of regular military maneuvers to Kaliningrad.
“It seems to me that this is yet another step in the general context of escalation that we see, at least in rhetoric,” Estonian broadcaster ERR quoted outgoing Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves as saying.
Polish Minister of National Defense Antoni Macierewicz said Poland considers the matter of “highest concern” and is monitoring the situation.
Estonian Defense Forces Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Riho Terras told ERR that he sees the move as part of a larger Russian attempt to dominate the Baltic Sea.
“In the long term, Russia’s wish is to bring the Baltic Sea and the passages leading to it more and more under its control, and to control it much like it does the Black Sea,” Terras said.
Wedged between NATO members Poland and Lithuania and the Baltic Sea, Kaliningrad is vital to Russia’s strategic position.
Separated from the Russian mainland by 700km, it is the westernmost part of Russia. It houses the Russian Baltic Fleet, as well as multiple land forces and an air force detachment with fighters, bombers and helicopters, as well as an early-warning radar system and other equipment.
The Iskander, which can be equipped with a conventional or a nuclear warhead, has a range of at least 500km, placing most of Poland within its reach when it is in Kaliningrad.
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov played down the concerns.
“The Iskander ballistic missile system is mobile,” he said. “As part of the plan of combat training, missile troops are engaged in training on a year-round basis, covering great distances of the Russian territory ... by air, by sea and under their own power.”
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