Russian man swims from Kaliningrad to Lithuania seeking asylum, gets sent back to Russia
Lithuania’s border service detained a Russian citizen who swam across the Neman River seeking political asylum and sent him back to Russia, according to a report by the Lithuanian news outlet Lrytas.
A Russian man swam across the Neman River from Kaliningrad to Lithuania in pursuit of political asylum, only to be apprehended and returned to Russia by Lithuanian authorities, according to reports. The incident occurred on September 17 when the 60-year-old man was taken into custody near the riverbank around 1:50 p.m. by the State Border Guard Service (VSAT).
He claimed persecution in Russia due to his social media activity. Lithuanian officials, including the State Security Department, deemed him unworthy of asylum and promptly sent him back to Kaliningrad via the Panemunė checkpoint. The authorities determined he did not face danger, hold a special status, or qualify for EU admission, nor did he belong to a vulnerable group.
Meduza, an English-language news outlet, reported the story using AI translation with human review to ensure accuracy.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
