Putin caused an air commotion at NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kaliningrad today. There he held a meeting with the regional governor Anton Alikhanov and met with students of the local university on the occasion of Tatiana’s Day.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov assured journalists that the trip is not a “message” to NATO countries, but “routine work as part of visiting regions,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
But this did not convince the British newspaper The Guardian. She reminded readers that the Kremlin had previously stated that “the militaristic statements of the Baltic countries” demonstrated the existence of a risk for Kaliningrad.
According to Flightradar24, Putin's arrival in the western enclave was monitored by a Beech 350 King Air ALSR reconnaissance aircraft of the French Air Force. Also approaching the Kaliningrad region was a Boeing RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the British Royal Air Force, a NATO Boeing E-3A Sentry - a long-range radar detection and control aircraft, a NATO Airbus A330-243MRTT - refueling support for fighters, as well as two German and two Swedish aircraft.
During the trip, the Russian president nevertheless mentioned “illegal actions of some countries that have complicated supply chains,” and instructed the Ministry of Transport to quickly resolve the issue of subsidizing transportation to Kaliningrad for residents of the region and students. This is the end of the “militant” statements of the Russian president.
Political scientist Ilya Ananyev believes that Putin’s visit was pre-election in nature.
“I have a feeling that the logistics of Putin’s trips to the regions until March were built by the presidential administration according to the “architecture” of marking the borders of Russia at its extreme points. Look, Anadyr (Chukotka). The farthest “flag” in the northeast of the country. Kaliningrad is the extreme point of the western border of Russia. According to the logic of the presidential flights, three or four “frontier” regions remain to draw a complete geographic “map of Putin.” Mysticism or “message”?” Ananyev wrote in his tg channel.
Putin Causes Aviation Panic in NATO