No one seen document: maritime law expert on Russia's information operation on Baltic Sea borders

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

"It was a Russian special operation, no one has actually seen this document. That is, it was an announcement of changes to the resolution of the aggressor's government. It was an explanatory note, which spoke about the aggressor's plans to change its baselines. Possibly in the Baltic, and possibly in other waters, including the Arctic and the Black Sea. It should be noted that baselines are not state borders. Baselines are the lines from which the state border is measured. All countries must establish baselines and geographic coordinates and report them to the UN Secretariat. Obviously, Russia is not satisfied with the coordinates that were established in the Soviet era. Both the territorial sea and inland waters are measured from these lines," Babin explained.

The expert on the law of the sea also added that NATO is carefully preparing to repel all forms of aggressor attack in the Baltic.

"If the aggressor really made such statements, it can be perceived as an encroachment either on international waters or on the waters of neighboring states. It is necessary to raise the treaties on the Baltic Sea, because a lot depends on the baselines, but even more depends on the state border regime. After these announcements, which the Russians claimed were an information operation, a possible gauge of the reaction of NATO and the Baltic states, there was a reaction. It was not what the Kremlin had hoped for; it was coordinated and synchronized. Russia did not have any document. The Russians will continue to carry out such provocations, but this is an encroachment on the Alliance," Babin emphasized. 

• On May 21, the Russian authorities decided to unilaterally change the borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea.
• On May 21, in the southern military district of Russia, it began the first stage of exercises with practical training and use of tactical nuclear weapons.
• Oleh Rybachuk, head of the Center for Joint Actions, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European Integration (2005), noted that Russia does not decide anything in the Baltic Sea.