Russia unilaterally moves Lithuania and Finland's border

According to a draft government resolution, Russia has decided to unilaterally change maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea. According to The Moscow Times, the Ministry of Defence is working on a plan to identify a piece of the maritime area east of the Gulf of Finland, near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region, as Russia's internal sea waters. This includes calculating the geographic coordinates of the sites that create the position of the baselines used to measure the width of the Russian Federation's territorial sea, as well as the adjacent zone off the coast and islands. According to an annexe to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Russian government intends to update coordinates around the islands of Jähi, Sommers, Holland, Rodsher, Maly Tyuters, and Vigrund, as well as at the northern entry point of the Narva River. The Curonian Spit, tip Taran, the tip south of Cape Taran, and the Baltic Spit were examined near the Lithuanian border. The initiative's developers contend that the geographic coordinates established by the USSR Council of Ministers in 1985 do not accurately reflect current geographical realities. The locations were documented with small-scale maritime navigation charts taken from mid-20th-century data, making it difficult to determine the external boundary of the Russian Federation's internal sea waters. The adjustments will establish straight baselines on the southern half of the Russian islands in the eastern Gulf of Finland, including Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk, allowing Russia to exploit these areas as internal sea waters. According to the project authors, the shift in the exterior border of the territorial sea will affect Russia's state border at sea. The Ministry of Defence proposes partially declaring the USSR Council of Ministers' 40-year-old resolution on Baltic Sea borders "inoperative." The boundary adjustment document was made available for public discussion when tactical nuclear weapons drills began, with no formal remarks from the Finnish or Lithuanian foreign ministries. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, activities in the Southern Military District have begun, including using Iskander complexes and Kinzhal missile-equipped planes. According to the department's press office, the exercise intends to educate soldiers in the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons as well as to respond to inflammatory statements and threats made by specific Western leaders.