Why is Kaliningrad part of Russia, how does it appear on maps and where’s England vs Belgium World Cup 2018 host city?
Annexed from Germany in 1945, the territory was a closed military zone throughout nearly all of the Soviet period
ENGLAND fans unwilling to travel all the way to Moscow can see their team in action at a venue much closer to home.
Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave squeezed between Lithuania and Poland and plays host to England’s game with Belgium on June 28, 2018.
Where is the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad?
Kaliningrad sits on the Baltic Sea and is sandwiched between Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east.
Annexed from Germany in 1945, the territory was a closed military zone throughout nearly all of the Soviet period.
In 2013, Russia deployed short-range Iskander ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in the region.
The Kremlin said the military move was in response to US plans to deploy ballistic missile defence systems in Europe.
What is the history of Kaliningrad?
Koenigsberg, as the city of Kaliningrad was once known, was founded by Teutonic knights in the 13th century.
It became one of the cities of the Hanseatic League and was once the capital of Prussia – a prominent German state.
The Hanseatic League was a confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in north western and central Europe.
The region was still part of Germany until annexation by the USSR following World War II when it suffered extensive destruction.
The German population was expelled or fled after the war ended.
Since Lithuania joined the EU it’s been impossible to travel between the enclave and Russia without crossing the territory of an EU state.
There’s been friction, particularly with Lithuania, over transit regulations.
Why is Putin so keen to keep hold of Kaliningrad?
Kaliningrad was one of the most militarised and closed parts of the Soviet Union, and the military were the region’s chief economic mainstay in the Soviet years.
When the USSR dissolved, that military presence disappeared along with the economic benefits it provided to the isolated enclave.
Kaliningrad is still of great strategic importance to Moscow as it houses the Russian Baltic Fleet at the port of Baltiysk and is the country’s only ice-free European port.