EU state seizes pants from Russian train

Lithuania has confiscated five pairs of camouflage pants from a passenger train traveling from Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad to Moscow, local authorities have said, promising to send them as aid to Kiev.

Officers from Kaunas Territorial Customs and the Customs Criminal Service discovered the pants in the mail carriage of a Kaliningrad-Moscow passenger train on October 2. The authorities “detected and detained a mail consignment containing possibly military items – camouflage trousers,” Lithuania’s Customs said in a statement published on Monday.

The garments fall under the EU Council sanctions against Russia as clothing specifically designed for camouflage, according to Vilnius.

In late September and early October, local authorities confiscated several consignments of camouflage nets, also deemed military-use items, the statement added.

Customs officials consider such items to be “destined for Russian forces fighting against Ukraine” and “are usually sent by members of various voluntary organizations operating in the Russian Kaliningrad region.”

The five pairs of pants and other confiscated goods will now be sent to Ukraine as “assistance” from Lithuania.

Rail traffic from Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia must pass through Lithuania. Soon after the onset of the Ukraine conflict, Vilnius announced that it would block the transit of goods that fall under EU sanctions on its territory.

The region’s governor, Anton Alikhanov, referred to Lithuania’s decision as an attempt to “strangle” the area. He stressed that 20-40% of goods that used to pass between Kaliningrad and Russia fell under the restrictions, including cement, metals, and other important building materials.