Lithuania: Call Russia campaign suspended amid public outcry

Organisers of a campaign in Lithuania to call ordinary people in Russia and discuss the war in Ukraine has been suspended, following a public outcry, LRT reports. Locals organised to cover posters of the campaign in Vilnius. Tomas Balzekas, head of Lithuania’s 15min news website and news agency BNS, said that the “Call Russia” campaign was “based on good intentions” but had led to strong public opposition. He noted that the campaign was run by friends of Ukraine. Oleg Surajev, head of $1K Project, said that talking to ordinary Russians after 1.5 years of brutal war was “foolish.” Jonas Öhman, head of the local NGO, Blue/Yellow, noted that the campaign’s message seemed to be aimed at reaching “an agreement with Russia.” Meanwhile, supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny installed a replica of his prison cell in central Vilnius, LRT reported. Some Russian citizens who said that they were “ashamed” of their country protested against the installation. Also, there was an apparent attempt to set the installation on fire.