Putin's missiles pointed at the heart of Europe: Inside Russia's secretive stronghold

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EXCLUSIVE - Putin's chilling 'missile base' in the heart of Europe: Inside Russia's secretive stronghold of Kaliningrad 'where World War Three could start'

• Russian enclave about the size of Yorkshire borders Poland and Lithuania and is Putin's closest territory to UK
• Former German Empire outpost of just 6,000 square miles is now the most militarised zone in Europe
• Putin has moved powerful Iskander-M and Bastion missile systems used in Syria to the tiny Baltic enclave
• Weapon systems could reach Berlin and are bolstered by huge Baltic fleet undergoing major modernisation
• Russia's secretive European hub is also home to one of the world's most sophisticated listening stations
• MailOnline found sinister new facility being constructed for 'powerful missile systems' behind barbed wire
• Locals say they have warned of a 'Nato invasion' and say 'much more modern firepower now is on the way'
• MailOnline saw Tochka U Soviet tactical ballistic missile on display at new weapons base under construction
• Region will also play host to the 2018 Fifa World Cup but stadium construction has been hit by delays

By Yelena Morozova In Kaliningrad, For Mailonline

Published: 07:34 GMT, 8 December 2016 | Updated: 11:06 GMT, 8 December 2016


Russian leader Vladimir Putin is building up his military capability in the secretive European enclave of Kaliningrad, constructing a new 'missile base' and practising chilling war games, MailOnline can reveal.

The Baltic Sea outpost, which borders Nato and EU countries Poland and Lithuania, is bristling with Russian missiles and warships - and experts claim it could even become the epicentre of World War Three.

Economically backward and cut off from Russia, the 6,000-square-mile stretch of land is now easily the most militarised territory anywhere in Europe. It is the closest Russian territory to London and other big Western cities and provides a crucial staging post for Putin in Europe.

MailOnline gained exclusive access to the former Prussian territory, and found evidence of what locals said was a new missile base being constructed, a radar and listening station that can cover 'the whole of Europe' and plans for an urgent military-built railway building project by the Russian army to connect to Chkalovsk naval air base, which is equipped with 'four separate complexes' for bombers and fighters.

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New missile base: MailOnline found a new hangar being built for Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, near to a bleak compound deep inside Europe's most militarised enclave

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Show of strength: This missile troops unit in Kaliningrad demonstrates the strong military presence in Kaliningrad, a 6,000-square mile territory of Russia bordering Poland and Lithuania

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Powerful fleet: Kaliningrad is Putin's military foothold in Europe, and he is using it to send shivers down the spine of ex-communist countries including neighbouring Poland and Lithuania. His powerful Baltic Fleet, which includes a ship with an anti-aircraft gun, pictured above, is headquartered there and is undergoing unprecedented modernisation

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War games: Chilling images of Russian military training in Kaliningrad were broadcast on Red Star TV in a show of strength designed to demonstrate Putin's might

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Missile capability: For years, Russia has taunted the West with the threat of nuclear-capable Iskanders in Kaliningrad, now the weapons with a range of 310 miles have been moved back to the tiny enclave

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Putin's war base: A missile troop unit in Kaliningrad, the secretive Russian enclave in the heart of Europe, shows how Russian leader Putin is bolstering his military capability in a show of strength against Nato

 

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Russian power: Look closely, and a Tochka U Soviet tactical ballistic missile is visibly displayed in the yard at a missile troop base. But much more modern firepower now is on the way here, say residents


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Keep out: The structure under construction behind this barbed wire fence is said to be related to the deployment of Iskander missiles in a bid by Putin to shore up his military capability in Europe

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Secretive: These red Soviet stars appear battered and worn but they mark the gate to a military base where the Russians are said to be constructing a new missile base where weapons will have a range of 310 miles and could reach Berlin



Ominously, locals are being prepared for an imminent NATO invasion, a move seen in the West as pure Moscow propaganda, but here in this grim host region for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, people are inclined to believe the Kremlin's version of events, as MailOnline discovered in a visit here in recent days.

Kaliningrad - the once proud Teutonic Knights' city of Konigsberg - sits on the eastern shore of the Baltic between Poland to the south, and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the north.

All these others are thriving modern Western sovereign democracies that - a generation ago - rejected Moscow's noose: only Kaliningrad remains mired in economic backwardness, largely shut off from Europe, like a Soviet relic with no European airlines currently even seeing it worthwhile to fly here.

Yet it is Putin's military foothold in Europe, and he is using it to send shivers down the spine of these other ex-communist countries, all now loyal NATO members, with both Iskander-M and Bastion missile systems - of the kind Russia has showcased recently with deadly effect in Syria - stationed here, not to mention his powerful Baltic Fleet, undergoing unprecedented modernisation, and copious warplanes buzzing the Baltic.

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Silent snooping: With a range of 3,725 miles, this early warning station covers virtually all of Europe and much of the Atlantic Ocean, and can simultaneously lock onto and track some 500 Western targets

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Sinister listening post: This is a Voronezh-DM radar and snooping station, officially known anonymously as object 2461, and surrounded by army unit 42988, a location now under heavy security which is also the site of prodigious new construction work by military builders

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Sophisticated radar: From here - on the site of an old Nazi airfield - Putin's military 'controls the air space above the whole Europe including Great Britain', in the words of TV Zvezda - or Red Star, a television channel run by the Defence Ministry. Pictured: Soldier shaking hands with then president Dmitry Medvedev, now Putin's loyalist prime minister

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High power HQ: Russian reports suggest this bleak compound is also a location of Iskander missile complexes recently deployed by Putin and with a strike range over both the Baltic and central Europe

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Huge range: With a range of 3,725 miles, this early warning station covers virtually all of Europe and much of the Atlantic Ocean, and can simultaneously lock onto and track some 500 Western targets

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European outpost: Sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, the secretive enclave of Kaliningrad is Russian leader Vladimir Putin is building up his military capability and is bristling with Russian missiles and warships

Across the border in the Orzysz region of northeast Poland, Britain will in April send 150 troops as a token of support to Warsaw, and British forces recently participated in large military exercises called Iron Sword involving 4,000 troops from ten countries in neighbouring Lithuania. In Moscow, both these moves are portrayed as deeply hostile, seen as ratcheting up the flaring tension which the West, in turn, blames personally on Putin.

Yet with 330,000 troops on combat standby under Putin's command to the east, where is the deterrence?

The Kremlin leader once boasted, according to Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko: 'If I wanted, Russian troops could not only be in Kiev in two days, but in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw or Bucharest, too.'

If so, Kaliningrad will be a key staging post.

And here, in the world's amber capital and a formerly German region grabbed by Stalin at the end of the Second World War, the signs are everywhere of Putin's military might, and a growing suspicion of foreigners.

Arriving passengers are met inside the door of the airport terminal with the sign 'Preliminary registration of foreigners', and police suspiciously checking all non-Russians coming to this territory: it hardly bodes well as a welcome to World Cup tourists in 18 months time when the team representing one or more NATO country could find themselves playing or being based here.

The strongman's portrait gazes out from the snow-clad entrance to military bases in this region, as well equipped soldiers go about their duties.

 

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Naval power: Kaliningrad is home to Russia's Baltic fleet and the superpower is has deployed warships to the Baltic sea armed with Bastion anti-ship cruise missile launchers. Pictured: The port of Baltiysk

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Overshadowed: In the port of Baltiysk, a monument to Peter the Great has been erected in a demonstration of the 'everlasting' of the region's empire

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Military might: The Russian fleet has stationed Kalibr nuclear-capable ship-based cruise missiles in Kaliningrad, sending two frigates equipped with launchers that can fire these missiles more than 900 miles

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Local fear: The Russians have warned locals to expect a Nato invasion and while this has been dismissed by experts as propaganda, residents take it seriously. The naval power in Kaliningrad is long established and it is the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, currently undergoing unprecedented modernisation

Then there is the stark top secret concrete tower behind barbed wire some nine miles from the drab coastal resort of Pionersky.

This is a Voronezh-DM radar and snooping station, officially known anonymously as object 2461, and surrounded by army unit 42988, a location now under heavy security which is also the site of prodigious new construction work by military builders.

From here - on the site of an old Nazi airfield - Putin's military 'controls the air space above the whole Europe including Great Britain', in the words of TV Zvezda - or Red Star, a television channel run by the Defence Ministry.

With a range of 3,725 miles, this early warning station covers virtually all of Europe and much of the Atlantic Ocean, and can simultaneously lock onto and track some 500 Western targets.

Russian reports suggest this bleak compound is also a location of Iskander missile complexes recently deployed by Putin and with a strike range over both the Baltic and central Europe.

But MailOnline found a new hangar being built for the Iskanders behind barbed wire - according to local sources - in a base for missile troops in the region.

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Missile troop boast: Defence Ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Igor Konashenkov said in October: 'No-one made a great secret about transporting the [missile] system on the Ambal cargo ship'

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Troops ready: On a visit to the secretive enclave of Kaliningrad MailOnline saw troops marching between barracks and witnessed the construction of what is said to be a new missile site

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Putin portrait: An image of Russia's 'strong-man leader' is emblazoned on the side of a missile troop unit in Kaliningrad, which Russia has long used to taunt the West with the threat of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles

Look closely, and a Tochka U Soviet tactical ballistic missile is visibly displayed in the yard here. But much more modern firepower now is on the way here, say residents, and the structure under construction is related to this deployment.

For years, Russia has taunted the West with the threat of nuclear-capable Iskanders in Kaliningrad, and last year the former Red Army airlifted the state of the art missile to this region, claiming later to have withdrawn it after the completion of military manoeuvres.

But now they are back, as Defence Ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Igor Konashenkov boasted in October: 'No-one made a great secret about transporting the [missile] system on the Ambal cargo ship.

'I will say more: one Iskander was specially displayed before it was loaded onto the Ambal under a passing US surveillance satellite to find out the operating parameters of the spacecraft.'

The Iskander is extremely mobile, hard to detect, and it offers precision accuracy to 310 miles. Britain is not in its range, but Angela Merkel's capital Berlin definitely is.

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Sniper: Russia's Red Star TV station has run boastful videos of the war games taking place in its European outpost of Kaliningrad

 

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Chilling: The 'war games' images are designed to show Russians they are ready to take on Nato in a show of major propaganda

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Sights on the Baltics: But the sinister broadcast of war games in Kaliningrad also demonstrated Russia's wish to intimidate the ex-Communist states on its borders which are now loyal to Nato

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Naval firepower: Military exercises in the Kaliningrad region come at a time of heightened tension between the former Soviet superpower and Nato

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Sea battle: In addition to war games off the coast of Kaliningrad, Russia has sent its warships to the English Channel, purportedly on the way to military action in Syria

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Naval display: Putin is particularly proud of the historic Baltic fleet which is headquartered in Kaliningrad at the heart of Europe

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Propaganda: These impressive images are intended to covey to Russians that they are well protected from a perceived NATO threat

The same Zvezda TV has recently boasted about Russian military training in Kaliningrad, as our chilling pictures of war gaming on land and sea show, displaying a panoply of modern military hardware in this exclave, which is cut off from the rest of the Russian empire by around 435 miles.

These impressive images are intended to covey to Russians that they are well protected from a perceived NATO threat.

The Russian aim is to build a web of anti-aircraft systems that could challenge NATO aircraft over the Baltic states and parts of Poland, disrupting the alliance's ability to control swathes of land it is intended to defend, believe Western experts.

Locals here are told by respected figures that they may face an imminent NATO invasion, we discovered.

A Kaliningrad news site Klops.ru recently highlighted a warning by respected academic Mikhail Alexandrov that NATO is preparing to invade.

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Dummy run: The Russian aim is to build a web of anti-aircraft systems that could challenge NATO aircraft over the Baltic states and parts of Poland, disrupting the alliance's ability to control swathes of land it is intended to defend, believe Western experts

 

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Playing war: Although these images look desperately sinister they are an elaborate war game to be broadcast on Red Star TV to show Russians that Putin is ready to counter any Nato threat

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Sights: Zvezda TV has recently boasted about Russian military training in Kaliningrad, as our chilling pictures of war gaming on land and sea show, displaying a panoply of modern military hardware in this enclave, which is cut off from the rest of the Russian empire by around 435 miles

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Military plan: The Russian aim is to build a web of anti-aircraft systems that could challenge NATO aircraft over the Baltic states

'Recently Kaliningrad Region has become a key factor in Russia's national security. It is related to an increased tension in relations between Russia and the West over Ukraine and Syria,' he told Russians.

'These contradictions reflect long-term trends in connection with Western strategy to surround Russia and to eliminate it as an independent centre of power.

'As the West is failing to achieve this goal by political means, it started to put forceful pressure on Moscow, including direct threats, blackmail and intimidation.'

The West, he warned, aimed to separate Kalinigrad from its motherland, perhaps by a 'blockade'.

The aim would be to foment anti-Kremlin sentiments and encourage a 'fifth column' to misinform the public 'and stage acts of sabotage'.

A summary of his propaganda-laden comments stated, according to one summary: 'Subversive groups from Lithuania and Poland will also stage acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks against servicemen and officials in the region.

'Foreign and local pro-Western media will publish propaganda reports.

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By land, air and sea: The impressive images suggest Russia is readying its miliary arsenal to respond by land, air and sea to any perceived Nato threat

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Boots on the ground: The elaborate war games even involve soldiers crawling through the sand in a simulation of an amphibious landing on hostile foreign soil

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Invasion: The war games were staged at vast expense on the coast of the sinister Russian enclave that borders Poland and Lithuania, and are designed to intimidate neighbours and reassure Russian residents

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No expense spared: Highly detailed re-enactments involved warships, amphibious landing craft, tanks and footsoldiers crawling ashore in the Kaliningrad region

'At this point under the guise of peacekeepers NATO forces may enter the region. Afterwards the alliance will propose to hold a referendum on the region's status.'

Alexandrov concluded: 'Russia must be on guard and suppress any attempts to destabilise the situation in Kaliningrad Region.'

Other reports, for example on Topwar site, warn darkly of 'sabotage actions' on Kaliningrad from Poland and Lithuania, and predict Western moves to blockade the enclave from land, air and sea.

Painting Kaliningrad's neighbours as America's lackeys, articles warn it would only take a nod from Washington for the land borders to be closed.

A favoured Russian method of launching its missiles is from special trains. Recently there were reports that tests of launches of nuclear missiles for Barguzin 'railway-based combat rocket system' were carried out at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the north of the country.

The roof of a carriage will open and a missile will be raised vertically into the air before it is launched in the direction of its target.

We can reveal that an urgent railway building project has been given the go-ahead in Kaliningrad, connecting Druzhnoye train station to revamped Chkalovsk naval air base, some five miles north of the region's city, and equipped with 'four separate complexes' for bombers and fighters.

 

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History looming large: In the port of Baltiysk, a hulking statue of Lenin still lurks over the town, pointing towards a great Soviet future, while since the fall of the USSR, a monument to Peter the Great has been erected in the port area

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Clinging to the past: In the Kaliningrad port of Baltiysk a monument to Peter the Great, who ruled from 1682, stands over the fleet in homage to a tsar who expanded Russia's empire so it became a major power

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Soviet sailors: The power of the sea and the nation's military might echoes all around in the Kaliningrad port of Baltiysk, where a monument to sailors of the Second World War stands proudly close to a Soviet star

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Local fear: One resident told MailOnlie 'It's frightening when you have children to be hearing about the Third World War, and that this is where all the tension is now, more even than Crimea and Ukraine.'

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Fears: The Russians have prepared locals for a Nato invasion as part of a propaganda exercise, but this has had a lasting impact, with one resident telling MailOnline: 'I don't want some Syrian scenario here in Europe. I don't like the worsening relations between us and NATO, but I don't see how I can move away. My roots are here, my family all live in Kaliningrad'

The work is not civilian: it is being conducted by the Russian Army Railway Corps.

Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov has indicated the work is linked to providing connections for 'newly commissioned missile and ammunition depots'.

It is also partly from Kaliningrad that Russian warplanes routinely buzz the Baltic Sea, buzzing RAF aircraft flying NATO patrols and US warships, and barrel-rolling an American Air Force reconnaissance flight, described as 'dangerous and provocative' by Washington.

In one recent week, NATO Baltic Air Policing jets were scrambled four times to intercept Russian aircraft, usually flying with their on board transponders switched off.

Retired U.S. General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, warned recently of a possible Russian invasion from Kaliningrad of the Baltic states.

'The Russians are [now] putting considerable pressure on the Baltic states, with the very real possibility of challenging Nato with a military hybrid occupation similar to eastern Ukraine,' he said.

'There is a massive military build-up in Kaliningrad, including troops, anti-shipping and anti-aircraft missiles.

'What Russia is attempting to accomplish, which they have played out in more than a dozen exercises in the last three years, is to take away the US/Nato air and maritime power advantage by denying these systems access to the area.'

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Naval communications: The skyline is dominated by naval towers in Kaliningrad, with retired U.S. General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, warning recently of a possible Russian invasion from Kaliningrad of the Baltic states

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Desperately earning a living: In Pionersky, close to the giant radar and listening complex, locals crowd into the sea, protected against the cold, to make the most of the crashing waves which bring in new deposits of amber which Russians sell to eke out their modest salaries and pensions

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Ancient industry: One 60-year-old man told MailOnline: 'We're fishing with our nets for amber, not worrying about war with NATO. It's good weather today, there are waves but they are not too big. People are trying to catch the amber before it is thrown out at the coastline. Everyone dreams of fishing up a big stone'


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Grim outlook: In summer, tourists flock to the white sand beaches of the Pionerskij region but in December the area looks bleak and feels rundown

Russia is sending to Kaliningrad the latest S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile system and has deployed warships to the Baltic sea armed with Bastion anti-ship cruise missile launchers.

Kalibr nuclear-capable ship-based cruise missiles are also here: Russia in October sent two frigates to Kaliningrad equipped with launchers that can fire these missiles more than 900 miles.

'The Russians greatly overmatch Baltic and NATO ground forces, which literally means a successful occupation of the Baltic states in two or three days.'

The naval power in Kaliningrad is long established and it is the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, currently undergoing unprecedented modernisation.

In the port of Baltiysk, a hulking statue of Lenin still lurks over the town, pointing towards a great Soviet future, while since the fall of the USSR, a monument to Peter the Great has been erected in the port area.

Giant naval communications towers also dominate the scenery, and Russian warships are visible, with the crew on board, in the docks, watched over by cold-looking swans.

In summer, tourists flock to the white sand beaches of the region but in December the area looks bleak, with a rundown feel.

In Pionersky, close to the giant radar and listening complex, locals crowded into the sea, protected against the cold, to make the most of the crashing waves which bought in new deposits of amber which Russians sell to eke out their modest salaries and pensions.

'We're fishing with our nets for amber not worrying about war with NATO,' said a 60 year old man.

'It's good weather today, there are waves but they are not too big.

'People are trying to catch the amber before it is thrown out at the coastline. Everyone dreams of fishing up a big stone.'

Cupping his hands he said: 'I know a man who that this size a stone and got one million roubles for it (£12,300). He immediately bought himself a flat here.

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Naval battalion: The picturesque bases belie the sinister aim to intimidate ex-Communist neighbouring states. Retired U.S. General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, warned: 'The Russians are [now] putting considerable pressure on the Baltic states, with the very real possibility of challenging Nato with a military hybrid occupation similar to eastern Ukraine'

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Intimidation by air: This snow-covered Baltic Navy Aviation base in Kaliningrad is one of many in the region is aimed at 'taking away the US/Nato air and maritime power advantage by denying these systems access to the area', according to Gen Jack Keane

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Sailors' digs: Kaliningrad is seen as one of Russia's most corrupt regions, but it is also starkly impoverished compared with neighbours Poland and Lithuania. The Naval battalions, one of which is pictured above, are dotted throughout the enclave

'Maybe in big cities people worry about war and international politics, but here they just want some money, a job, a flat.'

The fact is that Kaliningrad is seen as one of Russia's most corrupt regions, but it is also starkly impoverished compared with neighbours Poland and Lithuania.

Gone are the days when - after the Red flag came down - it was seen as a potential Hong Kong, a beacon pulling Russia towards capitalism.

Putin knows the region well. This was the home of his former first lady Lyudmila Putin, before her divorce from the president in 2014.

Yet its average pay is now £82 a week, well under half the figure in capital Moscow. It is no icon on Russian economic success, although it is a key entry point for EU cheese imports seeking to evade retaliatory sanctions on Western goods.

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Might: The Russians did not hide the movement of Bastion missiles to Kaliningrad. The missiles, like those pictured above, have a range of over 300 miles

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Firepower: Vesti TV in Kaliningrad broadcast comments that Russia has all rights to place missiles wherever it wants within its territory

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Ready to deploy: The missile launchers inside the special garage where they are stored in Russia's Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy Russia), which carries out the construction of special facilities and production for defence

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Destruction: Russian TV has broadcast rehearsals of the launch of Yakhont missile from its Bastion missile system complex at Kuril islands in the east

 

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In the years after the fall of the Soviet Union it was seen as a mecca of black market smuggling of cigarettes and drugs, and while this has declined, recently a trusted security apparatchik Yevgeny Zinichev, a former Putin bodyguard, quit as regional governor for 'personal reasons' after less than 100 days, which Russian analysts interpreted as a euphemism for being unable to cope with the criminality.

'It disgusted him,' said former Putin spinmeister Gleb Pavlovsky.

'He suffered for quite a while, when he was showered with all sorts of offers of joint projects, and shares in various deals.

'He got horrified because, in every offer, he saw a trap.'

Close ally Putin 'took mercy on him and moved him away from that post'.

He is now back in Moscow, slotted in as a deputy head of the FSB counter-intelligence service, once headed by Putin.

He has been replaced by 30 year old Anton Alikhanov - the youngest governor in Russia - buttressed by another seasoned FSB deputy Sergei Yeliseyev to keep the region in check.

Putin has put in FSB placemen to many regions but here - more than most - there appears to be suspicion of foreigners.

A recent visit by Reuters - which found 'ample visible evidence of Russia enhancing its military presence' - found that Russia was far from keen to showcase its army expansion here.

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Naval might: At the port of Baltiysk in Kaliningrad naval communications tower and coastline guarding boats are everywhere

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Monitoring: The 6,000-square-mile enclave is in the heart of Europe, bordering Poland and Lithuania, and monitors its coastline with a series of naval communcations towers like that pictured above at the port of Baltiysk

' Much of the region is off-limits to foreigners without a special permit and at one point men in civilian clothes ordered photos of military infrastructure deleted,' stated the news agency's story.

Many locals here veer clear of military talk in this atmosphere of suspicion.

One told us: 'It's frightening when you have children to be hearing about the Third World War, and that this is where all the tension is now, more even than Crimea and Ukraine. I don't want some Syrian scenario here in Europe. I don't like the worsening relations between us and NATO, but I don't see how I can move away. My roots are here, my family all live in Kaliningrad.'

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Picturesque: The still waters around the port of Baltiysk in Kaliningrad are home to huge numbers of naval ships, which contrast with the wooded surrounds

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Corruption: In the years after the fall of the Soviet Union Kaliningrad was seen as a mecca of black market smuggling of cigarettes and drugs despite the presence of the military, as shown in the ships above

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Police guard: A security presence is never far away in the heavily militarised Kaliningrad enclave, with police guarding a naval office at the port of Baltiysk

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Contrast: The might military ships of the Baltic fleet share the waters around Baltiysk with swans and other wildlife

Valeria, 30, a mother of two, from Baltiysk, was more sanguine.

'I don't think it is right to be afraid of war today. Trust me, it has always been the same here.

'My father served in the Baltic fleet and I remember those constant talks about coming war.

'I don't think my father took it seriously but he was always ready of course, he was a soldier. So we are far from being in panic mode here.

'Probably it's our fate here to be in the middle of war talk.'

Pensioner Sergei, 72, from Kaliningrad, said: 'The West should treat Russia with respect instead of starting revolutions in Ukraine and bringing NATO and the EU to our borders. Putin is a great man and he understands we cannot let the Americans and Europeans walk all over us. I'm a former military man, and you're making a mistake if you think we're not ready to fight. So stop all the provocations. Perhaps Donald Trump understands this, or maybe he doesn't, but Putin is a match for any leader in the world today. Don't mess with him.'

Svetlana, 27, countered: 'I'm not afraid of war, and none of my family and friends is.

'all this talk is simply ridiculous. Just think, is there any single European nation that would want a war with us?

'I know what people say: what about NATO? NATO is here, it's there, but to me it is like a huge phantom.

'I can't see real people behind it making some horrible plans, so I am not afraid.'

A driver from a provincial area admitted that tension is rising, but said it is nothing to Cold War times.

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World cup row: The new stadium for the FIFA World Cup Finals has been beset by problems after being built on what locals say was a 'swamp'

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Delay: In the summer FIFA president Gianni Infantino warned local officials here that there was 'no time to rest' in rectifying problems after the discovery of 'groundwater' in the arena. Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko complained: 'They chose the wrong place to build the stadium because it needs extra investment.'


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'This was a military place in Soviet times, a dozen of army units, almost round every corner. I wouldn't call it so seriously military nowadays,' he said.

' I think there is much less army presence in the whole region these days than when it was the USSR.

'We are the most western area of Russia, this is true so there must be some army presence here to guard against NATO, but I would not call it heavy.

'Every country protects its borders, doesn't it? One of our units is involved with these new missiles but everyone knows about them and that silos are being built for them. It is not a secret, all people are talking about it.'

Yet locals are hit by the tension, and face increasing isolation.

Poland has clamped down on easy access to its country for residents of Kaliningrad, named after bearded Bolshevik functionary Mikhail Kalinin, who as head of state of the Soviet Union for more than a quarter of a century signed off Stalin's most evil decrees on collectivisation, politically-motivated arrests, and the death sentences of hundreds of thousands.

Meanwhile, brewer Heineken will on 1 January halt its beer production in the enclave amid an economic downturn which has led to falling sales, yet another sign in the worsening atmosphere that Western ways no longer reach here.

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Domineering: The headquarters of the Baltic fleet in Kaliningrad are in an imposing building, and residents are warned to expect a Nato invasion

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Defiant: Kaliningrad residents face increasing isolation as Poland has clamped down on easy access to its country for residents. Pictured: The headquarters of the Baltic fleet in Kaliningrad

There are plenty more: neighbouring countries have become quite famous for their tolerance yet local politician Alexander Yaroshuk was adamant: 'There will be no gay parades as long as I am the mayor of Kaliningrad.'

Yet this is also a region that in many ways feels European rather than Russian, and locals here, for example, leave their bikes unlocked without losing them, while children walk around the streets of Kaliningrad city and other towns unchaperoned by adults, something that does not happen in many areas of the country.

The new stadium for the FIFA World Cup Finals has been beset by problems after being build on what locals say was a 'swamp'.

In the summer FIFA president Gianni Infantino warned local officials here that there was 'no time to rest' in rectifying problems after the discovery of 'groundwater' in the arena.

Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko complained: 'They chose the wrong place to build the stadium because it needs extra investment.'

Costs have spiraled from £135 million to £219 million, and there have been claims that construction workers have not been paid on time.

The main builder is the Crocus Group, headed by oligarch Aras Agalarov, a friend and business associate of Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the media in Russia - backed by prominent politicians - insists that Moscow is being reactive and proportionate in arming Kaliningrad, home of German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

TV Zvezda correspondent Dmitry Yurov wrote in Voenpolit.su: 'The European partners of Russia became concerned about Kaliningrad 'is becoming the most militarised region in Europe'.

'For some reason it occurred to nobody in the headquarters of European armies that enhancing arms in Kaliningrad and constant exercises in the Western Military district are aimed not at starting a war but preventing it.

'But there is one thing the European army analysts are right about: Kaliningrad is being actively supplied with the newest weapons and in the short run it will be able to respond to any, even the most sudden threat from any possible destination.

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Isolation: Brewer Heineken will on 1 January halt its beer production in the exclave amid an economic downturn which has led to falling sales, yet another sign in the worsening atmosphere that Western ways no longer reach Kaliningrad

'Kaliningrad region is causing concerns of NATO countries for various quite obvious reasons: the most powerful Russian outpost in Europe has accumulated enough strength to repulse any possible attack - from the air, land or sea and the skills of the soldiers are constantly growing due to frequent army exercises and sudden checks.

'Kaliningrad is one of the key and strategically important regions not only for Russia but also for the NATO countries because it is this Kaliningrad defence area that is able to neutralize the army force of NATO and to stop the alliance from doing what it wants in the area.

'In response to NATO expansion towards the Russian borders in Kaliningrad has been created one of the most efficient military posts in the world: the army units of the most Western region of Russia were supplied with air defence complexes S-300 and S-400.

'Air defence missile systems that cover the strategic region from the air are a big headache for NATO countries who are performing their investigative and offensive operations mainly from the air.'

Yurov insisted it Kaliningrad was now 'an unassailable fortress able to resist any attack.'

Defending the Iskander deployment in Kaliningrad, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: 'In current conditions, Russia, facing the need to adapt to the changing situation on the continent resulting from NATO's destructive actions, is forced to take an appropriate set of measures in the interests of strengthening its defence capability and national security.

'I will note that we are taking all these steps on our own territory, unlike the USA and a number of other countries, which are deploying troops to countries bordering on Russia and carrying out provocative military demonstrations near our borders.'

But Western experts see an acute danger.

'There was no reason to be very concerned five years ago when you could count on more or less peaceful behaviour of the Russian side,' said Igor Sutyagin, research fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

'Now it's becoming more and more possible that these forces could be used, and this is reason for concern.'

 

[abc123xyx]

EXCLUSIVE - Putin's chilling 'missile base' in the heart of Europe: Inside Russia's secretive stronghold of Kaliningrad 'where World War Three could start'

ww3...?

isn't it already on !!

 

[vostok]

So what is the point? Russian weapons on Russian territory - is bad, but Amercian weapons in Europe in 1000's miles from USA - is good?