The Moscow-Kaliningrad Train
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April 30, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic coast, has always been isolated from the rest of Russia. In Soviet times, train passengers could travel from Russia proper across Belarus and Lithuania without visas.
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But when the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the exclave became more isolated. After Poland and Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004, Kaliningrad's 1 million inhabitants felt more cut off than ever from their fellow Russians.
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The expansion of the EU created a new set of problems -- especially for Russians wanting to travel overland between the “mainland” and the exclave.
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In July 2003, Russia, Lithuania, and the EU signed an agreement on Russian transit through Lithuania. To cross Lithuanian territory, Russians need a Lithuanian visa and a Facilitated Railway Transit Document (FRTD) for the train journey. In this picture, passengers wait on the platform after passing through passport control in Vilnius.
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Liutauras Barila is a Lithuanian consular official on the train. Before the train reaches the border crossing, he passes through the cars distributing FRTDs, valid for a return trip within three months. The document is given free of charge.
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Ludmila Chernakova from Kaliningrad shows her FRTD. She is traveling from Moscow to Kaliningrad with several huge bags of clothes. She says clothes are cheaper in Moscow than in Kaliningrad, and she makes money by selling them in local markets.
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Tanya from Kaliningrad has spent several days with her relatives in Moscow. It was difficult for the Kremlin and for many ordinary Russians to accept the fact that they needed transit visas to get to Kaliningrad. Some considered it a national humiliation.
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Dima from Kaliningrad says he had problems getting a Lithuanian visa.
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Diana from Kaliningrad comforts her daughter Arina as the train approaches the Russian border and Kaliningrad.
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Olga relaxes after passing both Lithuanian and Russian customs officials at the border crossing in Kybartai.
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These Russians are traveling to Kaliningrad for the first time. Railway officials say most people are reconciled with the fact that they have to cross EU territory while traveling between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia.
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For two years, conductor Veronika Toropova has traveled from Kaliningrad to Moscow and back. She says she has never had an incident because of a transit visa. "Sometimes passengers drink too much and quarrel, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the transit," Toropova says.
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The final destination: Kaliningrad railway station. (text and photographs by RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite)