Kaliningradzki Kombinat Bursztynowy w Jantarnyj - AFP

A worker looks at a water gun operating in Kaliningrad Amber Combine quarry in the village of Yantarny (former German Palmniken), some 40 kms from Kaliningrad on October 16, 2025. The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, former German Koenigsberg, about half the size of Belgium, is separated from the rest of Russia by Poland and Lithuania. Founded in 1255, once the home of the kings of Prussia and forever associated with the 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant, Kaliningrad is home to around one million people comprising 80 nationalities, although the Russian community (80 percent) is by far the largest. The territory's effective separation from Russia dates back to the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. As a key military installation on the Baltic, the city and the port were closed off to non-Soviet citizens until 1991. In 1992 it became a free-trade zone, and in 1996 a special economic zone, acquiring privileges with relation to foreign investors. The enclave retains its strategic importance, both as the port for Russian missile-equipped submarines and as a base for the 11th army. The Kaliningrad Amber Combine produces 90% of the world's amber. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)