Caroline Baudry (special envoy to Vilnius), edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
Since the war in Ukraine, the Russian threat has also weighed on the Baltic countries, Lithuania in the lead. The country has banned since June 17 the transit of certain goods on its territory between Russia and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea, under European sanctions, thus provoking the anger of Moscow. Passenger transport is always assured: the railway crosses the country, protected by international treaties.
Get out of Russian propaganda
Lithuania wants to free itself from its cumbersome Russian neighbour. It has stopped gas imports and transfers of goods from Moscow. Russian passengers remain authorized thanks in particular to a train which stops every day in the Lithuanian capital, on the platform of Vilnius station. This ultra-guarded Russian train takes a break every day in the capital. On the fences bordering platform number 12, 24 photos are attached.
Over the loudspeakers of the station, a Russian voice resounds, calling out to the passengers: “To the passengers of train 29 Moscow-Kaliningrad. We have prepared for you a gallery of photos taken in Ukraine. You can see them through the windows of your wagon. Today, Putin is killing innocent civilians in Ukraine. Do you accept that?”
Rare faces appear behind the tinted windows, and face the signs of the Vilnius station. In the photos: cut-out mouths, shredded faces, gutted buildings. Images to get them out of Russian propaganda. On the platform opposite, Lilia, 51, a refugee from kyiv, waves a Ukrainian flag and holds up this sign towards travelers. “Russians, get out of my Ukraine! That’s the only thing I want to tell them,” she shouts.
“They also have a share of responsibility”
“The people who travel on this train, the Russians, some go on vacation,” continues Lilia. “Others are coming back from the sea. These are the real pictures of what their sons are doing. I would really like them to think. How will they look their children in the eye?” The Ukrainian also denounces their support for their leader, Vladimir Putin: “If they have chosen such a person, and let him act like this, then they also have a share of the responsibility.”
© Caroline Baudry / Europe 1
In front of these panels, an old man, passenger of train 29, holds his hands in a sign of solidarity. Ten minutes later, the train leaves, heading for the beaches of Kaliningrad. Maintaining its circulation remains the guarantee of peace, which is very fragile today.