Igor Odintsov, who went to prison after Lithuanian border guards handed him over to the Russians, said he had not offended either Lithuania or Russia. On September 17, 68-year-old Kaliningrad Oblast resident Igor Odintsov swam past Naman, trying to avoid a trial for "justifying terrorism." He said that he swam across the river and walked barefoot for several kilometers until he met the Lithuanian border guards. Odintsov asked them for political asylum and read the article that he was persecuted in his homeland, but was still transferred back that evening. The Lithuanian border service subsequently called his request unclear. Already on September 30, the military court of the Baltic Fleet sentenced Odintsov to a six-year sentence in a maximum security colony, and on October 7, after information about this appeared on the Internet, a resident of Lithuania, Daiva Kucinskaita, wrote to him and asked if he could forgive Lithuania. Odintsov wrote in response to her: "I have no question: to forgive or not to forgive Lithuania. Just like the question: to forgive or not to forgive the Russian Federation." He said that his childhood was spent on the banks of the Hanneman, he often traveled to Lithuanian cities and worked for a Lithuanian company. "Well, after that, how can I be offended by Lithuania? Seriously, Dave! And it is also impossible to be offended by the Russian Federation, my homeland. It's not the homeland's fault that it's like this, but all of us who live in it, to varying degrees, but we're to blame," the prisoner continued. He refused to help himself, but asked if it was possible to provide for his wife Valentina. Photo: Igor Odintsov.

Igor Odintsov, who went to prison after Lithuanian border guards handed him over to the Russians, said he had not offended either Lithuania or Russia. On September 17, 68-year-old Kaliningrad Oblast resident Igor Odintsov swam past Naman, trying to avoid a trial for "justifying terrorism." He said that he swam across the river and walked barefoot for several kilometers until he met the Lithuanian border guards. Odintsov asked them for political asylum and read the article that he was persecuted in his homeland, but was still transferred back that evening. The Lithuanian border service subsequently called his request unclear. Already on September 30, the military court of the Baltic Fleet sentenced Odintsov to a six-year sentence in a maximum security colony, and on October 7, after information about this appeared on the Internet, a resident of Lithuania, Daiva Kucinskaita, wrote to him and asked if he could forgive Lithuania. Odintsov wrote in response to her: "I have no question: to forgive or not to forgive Lithuania. Just like the question: to forgive or not to forgive the Russian Federation." He said that his childhood was spent on the banks of the Hanneman, he often traveled to Lithuanian cities and worked for a Lithuanian company. "Well, after that, how can I be offended by Lithuania? Seriously, Dave! And it is also impossible to be offended by the Russian Federation, my homeland. It's not the homeland's fault that it's like this, but all of us who live in it, to varying degrees, but we're to blame," the prisoner continued. He refused to help himself, but asked if it was possible to provide for his wife Valentina. Photo: Igor Odintsov.