Free but not free: this week, during the hour spent standing at the Lithuanian station of Kybartai, the last border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, passengers coming from Moscow or Minsk were entitled to access the wi-fi network without paying the station, but to connect they first had to view a series of images from the war in Ukraine.
Since Lithuania decided to limit the transport of certain goods to the territory (which led the Kremlin to react immediately and warn that the retaliation would not be only “diplomatic”, but “practical”), the trip, which since the end of the Cold War , was carried out without interruption, except to let passengers in and out, now requires a stop of at least an hour, so that the Lithuanian authorities can search the cars.
During that period of time, the British Telegraph reporter at the scene testified Thursday, the passengers not only did not leave the train, but the curtains were kept permanently closed.
But if the objective was to prevent Russian citizens (for whom the expression “war” is prohibited and who since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine only have access to the state-controlled media, prohibited as the whole so-called independent press) being exposed, beyond the windows, to any hint of war, failed miserably.
To pass the time, Russian passengers had free Wi-Fi. Problem: To access the internet for free, the British daily says, passengers first had to go through a series of “graphic images of Russian atrocities in Ukraine.”
For those who have dared to look beyond the curtains, the scenario will not have been very different: throughout the season there are also several posters distributed, with similar photographs.
Source: Observadora
