Russia may send more Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad

MOSCOW: Russia may send more Iskander tactical missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave in response to the latest US actions in the Baltics, the RIA news agency cited the head of the lower house of parliament’s defence committee, Vladimir Shamanov, as saying on Thursday.

Russia accused the United States on Thursday of illegally building up its forces in Poland and the Baltic region, saying it had quietly deployed an entire armoured division in breach of the main pact that governs Moscow’s relations with Nato.

Meanwhile, Moscow has lodged a protest with Washington, accusing US officials of tearing down Russian flags from two of its diplomatic missions in the country, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

In late August, the United States ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two other installations as relations between the two former Cold War enemies took another dive.

"Yesterday we learnt about a new ... hostile act of the US authorities against our diplomatic missions," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday, warning that Moscow would retaliate.