The basis for action: Russia is ready to respond to NATO's provocations in the Baltic
Unfriendly countries are trying to prevent the transportation of Russian goods in the Baltic Sea, Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Maritime Board, said at a meeting in the Kaliningrad region. Such measures are the basis for retaliatory actions on the part of Russia, he stressed. At the same time, Western countries refuse to accept our ships in their ports. But despite this, the Russian Federation continues to develop the fishing industry in the region — for example, almost half of the fishing fleet has been modernized in recent years. The reason for the new round of confrontation in the Baltic is in the Izvestia article.
How will Russia respond to NATO's provocations in the Baltic
Russia's activities in the Baltic Sea are conducted in the context of large—scale sanctions pressure from unfriendly countries, primarily EU members. Its purpose is to prevent the transportation of goods in the Baltic in the interests of our country, said Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President, Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board, at a meeting in the Kaliningrad region on May 28.
"In addition to the ongoing sanctions pressure, Western countries are creating military tension in the Baltic Sea, including through their provocative actions," Nikolai Patrushev said.
Given that maritime transport is in many ways becoming an alternative way of life support for the Kaliningrad region, Russia is forced to take and is already taking retaliatory measures, he stressed. Earlier, Patrushev said that the head of state supported the proposals of the Russian Maritime Board to respond to attempts by Western countries to restrict navigation in the Baltic Sea.
Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President, Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board, at a meeting in Kaliningrad
In particular, the Baltic Fleet began its planned exercises. More than 20 warships, boats and support vessels, including frigates, corvettes, small missile and anti-submarine ships, and minesweepers, are taking part in the maneuvers. About 3,000 military personnel, up to 25 aircraft and helicopters are involved in the exercise.
— The exercises launched by the Russian Federation in the Baltic Sea are a mirror response to the NATO exercises Narrow Waters 25, which are currently being conducted in the Gulf of Finland and other coastal waters. The naval forces of Finland, Sweden, Germany and Estonia are taking part in them. It is significant that before joining NATO, Finland had established positive relations with Russia, and both countries benefited economically from cooperation with each other," Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia.
During the presentation of the honorary badge "For Success in Work" to the staff of the 33rd USC Ship Repair plant in the Kaliningrad Region, Nikolai Patrushev noted that almost all ships of the Baltic Fleet had been repaired and put on alert in the workshops of the plant. The company holds a leading position among ship repair companies in fulfilling the state defense order.
Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President, Chairman of the Maritime Board of the Russian Federation, during the presentation of the honorary badge "For Success in Work" to the staff of the 33rd USC Ship Repair Plant
The large-scale fleet upgrade and ongoing exercises can be interpreted as another signal that Moscow will not allow restrictions on freedom of navigation in the Baltic.
Back in February 2025, it became known that the EU countries with access to the Baltic Sea were developing legal measures that would allow them to carry out mass detentions of ships carrying Russian goods. Later, the head of the EU staff committee said that the association does not have enough forces and resources to intercept tankers carrying Russian oil. At the same time, some countries are staging provocations.
For example, on May 14, the Estonian Navy, along with NATO aircraft, attempted to detain a Jaguar tanker in international waters bound for a Russian port. When the crew refused to comply with the demands, the military began threatening the ship, trying to ram it, and attempted to land troops from helicopters.
In April, the Estonian parliament approved amendments to the laws on the defense forces and the economic zone, granting the armed forces the right to sink suspicious civilian vessels. Nikolai Patrushev noted that Tallinn cannot act independently, the United Kingdom may be behind such a decision.
Today, the NATO military planning center pays special attention to the Baltic region, as it is home to the main sea routes that Russia actively uses. Among them, important strategic facilities and headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces are located, Tigran Meloyan said.
"We need to prepare for the fact that in the new era of geopolitical conflicts, the Baltic region may become the main flashpoint in the confrontation between Russia and the West after the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine," the expert said.
Such steps increase the risk of possible escalation and direct confrontation between Russia and NATO, especially given the fact that there are no "buffer zones" or neutral states left in the region. Currently, Russian warships and aircraft have to escort commercial tankers in the narrow part of the Gulf of Finland. Any misinterpreted maneuver or deliberate provocation by certain Western countries during the Russian Armed Forces' task of escorting ships can put the region at risk of a major conflict, Meloyan concluded.
The naval blockade of the Russian Federation in the Baltic will actually mean a formal declaration of war. And this is an additional deterrent that prevents the countries of the region from going beyond the level of provocations and demonstrations of force. This forces them to look for legal loopholes in order to limit the room for maneuver and create maximum difficulties for Russia, but at the same time avoid a direct armed conflict, Nikita Lipunov, a junior researcher at MGIMO, told Izvestia.
—Moscow, in response, demonstrates its readiness to defend its interests by force and similarly strengthens its military presence in the region," he stressed.
Russia will develop fishing in the Baltic Sea
The hostile actions of Western countries have also affected the field of industrial fishing in the Baltic Sea. In particular, access to a number of European ports for Russian fishing vessels was restricted. The ports of the Faroe Islands are closed. The authorities of the ports of Germany and the Netherlands, under far-fetched pretexts, refuse to service Russian vessels.
Tariff measures of influence are also applied. For example, significant export duties have been imposed on Russian seafood supplies: 35% in the UK and 12% in the EU.
— In these difficult conditions, the fisheries complex of the Kaliningrad region, which produces about 7% of the total volume of fish products in our country, is steadily developing, — said Nikolai Patrushev.
In particular, almost half of the Baltic fishing fleet has been upgraded. It is planned to build new small-tonnage vessels, the design of which involves Kaliningrad companies.
For example, two fishing vessels have recently been built at the Yantar shipyard and the construction of a large freezer fishing trawler is ongoing.
Due to the difficulties with repairing Russian vessels in foreign ports, it is important not only to modernize the fishing fleet, but also to increase expeditionary research to find new fishing areas in the oceans and in the exclusive economic zones of countries friendly to Russia. To ensure the safety of navigation, it is necessary to carry out fisheries reclamation and measures to deepen the bottom of the riverbeds and estuaries of the region's rivers.
Such measures will help fully utilize the capacities of fish processing enterprises, as well as strengthen Russia's international cooperation with friendly countries.
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