=15px Königsberg was part of East Prussia before WWII.  And home of Hilbert - one of the world's greatest mathematicians.  He defined how geometry books are now written.  And was Einstein's reason for working so hard on his theory of General Relativity when Hilbert looked like he would solve the problem first. Einstein's cousin had to nurse him back to health after that race.

=15pxWhen the USSR took it, they flattened the entire town. Renamed it.  And turned it into a military naval base.

Russia says they might deploy nuclear weapons close to NATO borders if sanctions continue.  An all but announced reality.  They already have in Kaliningrad.  Putin was planning for this (only the latest part of his plan) for the past 20 years.  Details (including amassing foreign reserves) were said to have started in earnest in 2014.  Kaliningrad is also part of a bigger plan that was implemented faster when people started demanding democracy on Moscow streets, in Ukraine, and in Belarus.

The Baltic states know this.  So Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are avid NATO supporters.  They know they have been attacked and expect to be attacked by Putin.

When did Tiananmen Square start in China?  When Putin was there for a state visit.  He has a long history of fearing democracy.  Yeltsin, just before his death, finally admitted Putin was a major mistake.  Admitting what Clinton had accurately warned him about.  Putin is what so many, who met him, said he was.

Kaliningrad is simply another pawn in his game plan.  Putin is a chess player.  His plans span many decades.  He is what Clinton predicted.