Earlier this year, when Lithuania had the temerity to sell an oil refinery to a Polish firm instead of a Russian one, the pipeline that supplies the refinery with Russian oil suddenly succumbed to a mysterious technical fault.

• 今年年初，立陶宛竟然冒失地将一家炼油厂出售给一家波兰公司，而不是俄国公司，结果为这家炼油厂供油的俄输油管道，就突然因莫名其妙的“技术故障”而瘫痪了。