MOSCOW, October 27 (HS/RIA Novosti) - NATO is saturating the Baltic region with military infrastructure and conducting exercises that rehearse actions against Russia, Vladislav Maslennikov, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European issues department, told RIA Novosti.

While the alliance saturates the Baltic with military infrastructure and constantly carries out exercises that rehearse actions against an 'adversary of comparable strength' — read: Russia — the Euro-bureaucracy and certain EU capitals are systematically taking steps to tighten control and create obstacles for international shipping, he said.

As an example, he pointed to the Western invention of the concept of a 'shadow fleet' — something they claim, by definition, poses a threat to the environment and the safety of navigation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that the European Union had invented the category of a so-called shadow fleet in the heat of its sanctions frenzy, as no such legal category actually exists. Commenting on claims regarding this alleged shadow fleet, the Kremlin characterized it as 21st-century piracy.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar