Blackmail

32 KAMENNYI LOG, BELARUS

Major General Vitaly Vasiliev, head of the 448th Missile Brigade, peered through the passenger-side window of his green GAZ Tigr all-terrain infantry vehicle at the passing Belarusian countryside. Behind him, stretched out on highway E28, was a convoy of Iskander missile batteries headed toward Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic Sea. As Vasiliev’s missile brigade headed toward Lithuania, through which they would transit to reach Kaliningrad, he reviewed the capabilities of his unit, wondering if it would soon be called into service.

The hypersonic Iskander missile, traveling at Mach 6 speed, could target weapon batteries, command posts, and communication nodes, and was accurate enough to engage individual tanks using a variety of targeting methods: satellite, aircraft, or even by scanning a photograph with GPS coordinates of the target. If the target moved, Iskander could be retargeted during flight. The Iskander was a lethal missile indeed, Vasiliev thought, with the ability to target frontline units as well as reinforcements traveling along the region’s highways.

Vasiliev was jarred from his thoughts as his vehicle ground to a halt. Stretching out before him on the road to the border checkpoint were the units of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade with its potent S-400 air defense system, and in front of them, on the road curving toward the west, were the rear elements of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, all stopped.

It wasn’t long before Vasiliev’s adjutant arrived, his Tigr pulling up alongside Vasiliev on the shoulder of the road. He stepped from the vehicle, saluting as he approached.

“I have bad news, General,” he said. “Lithuania is refusing to let Russian military units transit through their country.”

Vasiliev asked, “How much of a delay will there be?”

“No timeline has been provided. Only—No transit allowed.”

“What about Poland?” Vasiliev asked. They could retrace their steps a few kilometers, then head southwest into Poland, then north into Kaliningrad Oblast.

“Second Guards has already inquired. Poland is also refusing to allow transit.”

Vasiliev nodded. Lithuania and Poland, acting in concert, were preventing the transfer of additional Russian forces into Kaliningrad. It was infuriating, although not completely unexpected. Vasiliev’s eyes shifted to the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division ahead of them. It could easily force passage for the three Russian units through the border crossing, reaching Kaliningrad before Lithuanian forces could respond. Whether the mechanized division would soon be given orders to that effect, Vasiliev didn’t know.

He tried to contain his anger. Russia was again subject to the decisions of others when it came to simple transit between two regions of its country. During the days of the Soviet Red Army, Lithuania and Poland wouldn’t have dared prevent transit. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the weakening of Russia’s military, the two countries had become emboldened. With Russia’s military on the resurgence, it was finally time, Vasiliev thought, to adjust Lithuania’s and Poland’s thought processes. In the meantime, however, he would await new orders.