Baltic States in the context of "Baltic Offensive"

The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states covers the period from the Soviet–Baltic mutual assistance pacts in 1939, to their invasion and annexation in 1940, to the mass deportations of 1941.

In September and October 1939 the Soviet government compelled the much smaller Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave the Soviets the right to establish military bases there. Following invasion by the Red Army in the summer of 1940, Soviet authorities compelled the Baltic governments to resign. The presidents of Estonia and Latvia were imprisoned and later died in Siberia. Under Soviet supervision, new puppet communist governments and fellow travelers arranged rigged elections with falsified results. Shortly thereafter, the newly elected "people's assemblies" passed resolutions requesting admission into the Soviet Union. In June 1941 the new Soviet governments carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the people". Consequently, at first many Balts greeted the Germans as liberators when they occupied the area a week later.

Klaipėda (/ˈkleɪpɛdə/ CLAY-ped-ə; Lithuanian: [ˈklˠɐɪ̯ˑpʲeːdˠɐ] ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third-largest city in Lithuania, the fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, the capital of Klaipėda County, the only major seaport in the country and the busiest port in the Baltic States.

The city has a complex recorded history, partially due to the combined regional importance of the usually ice-free port at the mouth of the river Akmena-Danė [lt]. It was situated in Lithuania Minor and successively belonged to the State of the Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia (at times under the suzerainty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, within which it was the northernmost big city until it was placed under French occupation in 1919. From 1923, the city was part of Lithuania until its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1939, and after World War II it was part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Klaipėda has remained within Lithuania since 1944.

The culture of Poland (Polish: Kultura Polski or kultura polska) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Poland has a Roman Catholic majority, and religion plays an important role in the lives of many Polish people. The unique character of Polish culture developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of various European regions.

It is theorised and speculated that ethnic Poles are the combination of descendants of West Slavs and people indigenous to the region including Celts, Balts and Germanic tribes which were gradually Polonized after Poland's Christianization by the Catholic Church in the 10th century. Over time Polish culture has been profoundly influenced by its interweaving ties with the Germanic, Baltic, Jewish, Latinate and to a lesser extent; Byzantine and Ottoman cultures as well as in continual dialogue with the many other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland.

Kaunas (/ˈkaʊnəs/; Lithuanian: [ˈkɒʊ̯ˑnˠɐs] ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth-largest city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county [pl] in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.

Between 1920 and 1939, when (through military action in the Polish–Lithuanian War) Vilnius was seized and controlled by Poland (at that time, Poles constituted 66% of the city's population, and Lithuanians 0.8%), Kaunas served as the temporary capital of Lithuania. During the interwar period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Revival architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city's interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label. This contributed to Kaunas being designated as the first city in Central and Eastern Europe as a UNESCO City of Design, and also to becoming a World Heritage Site in 2023 as the only European city displaying large-scale urbanization during the interwar period and a range of modernist architecture.

Panevėžys (Lithuanian pronunciation: [pɐnʲɛvʲeːˈʑiːs] ) is the fifth-largest city in Lithuania and the eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. As of 2021, it occupies 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat the population of the Panevėžys functional urban area that stretches beyond the city limits is estimated at 124,412 (as of 2022).

Panevėžys is an important cultural and economic hub in the country's northeast. Located on the banks of the Nevėžis River, the city is known for its strong industrial heritage and vibrant arts scene. Panevėžys is also considered as a gateway to the picturesque landscapes of the Aukštaitija region.

Vakhtang Gomelauri (Georgian: ვახტანგ გომელაური, born 24 December 1974) is a Georgian politician, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia and as the chief of the State Security Service of Georgia from 25 July 2015 to 9 September 2019. Gomelauri is a close associate of Georgia's richest man Bidzina Ivanishvili.

On 19 December 2024, the United States and the United Kingdom adopted economic sanctions against Gomelauri due to his involvement in violent attacks and other grave human rights abuses against Georgian protesters and journalists. Earlier he was also sanctioned by the Baltic States for the same reasons.