VILNIUS - A man who swam across the Nemunas River from Russia’s Kaliningrad region into Lithuania in mid-September has been sentenced to six years in prison, the Lrytas news portal reported on Wednesday.
According to the media, the 68-year-old Russian citizen will serve his sentence in a strict-regime penal colony for posts condemning the war in Ukraine.
Lrytas, citing Russian portal Ruwest, reported that Igor Odintsov was sentenced "for public calls to carry out terrorist activities". According to the Lithuanian portal, this is the same man who swam to Lithuania, which was also confirmed by Sigitas Samborskis, chairman of the Kaliningrad Lithuanian community.
He called Lithuania's decision to return the man to Russia "another betrayal".
Meanwhile, the State Border Guard Service told Lrytas that it was unclear whether the man had asked for asylum, as there were doubts over whether such "a clearly and understandably unexpressed statement by him can be considered a request for international protection".
On September 17, State Border Guard Service officers returned the man, who had arrived from the Kaliningrad region by swimming across the Nemunas river, to Russia.
Lrytas was the first to report on the case. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas told the portal that the man had asked for political asylum but was sent back to Russia.
The State Border Guard Service said at the time that there was no data indicating threats to the man or a special status or potential admission to the European Union. He was also not included in the category of vulnerable persons, which is why a decision was made to deny him entry.
According to the service, the man was returned after his health had been taken care of and he had been provided with dry clothes after swimming.
Please enter your username and password.
2026 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy
