'Disloyal views': Lithuania strips Russian residency permits

Lithuania has revoked the residency permits of more than 100 Russians living inside the country, deeming some a security threat. 

In figures shared with Euronews on Monday, the country's Migration Department said it had stripped 38 Russians of their permanent residency in 2022, plus a further 97 so far this year. 

That's a total of 135 since Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Despite increasing restrictions, the number of Russians applying for residency permits in Lithuania doubled between 2021 and 2022 to almost 4,000, according to the Migration Department. 

Many are fleeing the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine war's fallout. 

The right to live in Lithuania can be taken away for several reasons, such as if a foreigner commits a "very serious crime", "poses a threat to state security" or society, the Migration Department said in a statement sent to Euronews. 

On Friday, the Lithuanian State Security Department (VSD) announced it had expelled Russian citizen Vladimir Vodo, a self-described "journalist". 

"Taking into account the current geopolitical situation", they told Euronews Vodo was a security risk. 

He had "disloyal views towards Lithuania, disseminates pro-Russian propaganda in social media and had contacts with Russian and Belarusian intelligence services," they said. 

Vodo calls himself a freelance journalist on LinkedIn, having worked for a number of Russian outlets, though Euronews cannot verify the authenticity of this account. 

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year heightened security concerns in the small Baltic state. 

Bordering the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, the staunch ally of Kyiv was once part of the USSR and now feels threatened by a revisionist Russia.  

Officials in Vilnius find themselves