The Kremlin is admitting that it has deployed a “significant quantity of short-range Iskander-M” in the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, the non-contiguous Baltic Seaport wedged in between NATO members Lithuania and Poland, which have expressed worry over the nuclear-capable weapons.

In semi-taunting reports in Russian state-run media outlets, sources within the Defense Ministry say that the missiles have been in position for at least 18 months.  Previously, Moscow had long threatened to move the missiles to Kaliningrad in response to the United States' own European missile shield, which Russia sees as a threat to its nuclear deterrent. 

Lithuania's Defence Minister Juozas Olekas says he is “worried about signals that Russia is about to modernize missile systems it has deployed in Kaliningrad.  Further militarization of this region, bordering the Baltic States and NATO, creates further anxiety, and we will be watching the situation there closely.”

Back when George W. Bush was president of the USA, the missile shield was Vladimir Putin’s biggest point of contention.  Barack Obama revised the system, but it survived in another form and continued to antagonize Russia.

The US insists that its European missile shield is not aimed at Russia and is designed to defend Europe from attack from “rogue states” – which is assumed to include Iran.