Russian propagandists announce a new "short SMO" — against whom this time
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian state propaganda outlet "RIA Novosti" published a piece containing threats of a military attack and missile strikes against Lithuania, calling it "another short SMO."
A Russian state agency published a piece with the headline "Russia faces another SVO. It will be very short," which discusses a possible war between Russia and Lithuania. The author of the publication is Russian propagandist Oleksandr Nosovych, head of the RuBaltic.Ru resource and a member of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, UNN writes.
Details
In his piece for the resource, the propagandist compares Lithuania with Ukraine and claims that if nuclear warheads are deployed, Russia could use weapons against the Baltic country without deploying ground forces.
"Since our adversaries are the first to shift the discussion into the realm of a nuclear threat, Russia can even afford to refrain from deploying ground forces. Only missiles with an appropriate warhead," Nosovych’s text says.
According to the Dossier Center and the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT, Oleksandr Nosovych belongs to a network of influence in the Baltics overseen by Kremlin special services and receives direct instructions from handlers in Russia.
As the publication notes, such aggressive rhetoric from Kremlin-controlled media emerged against the backdrop of warnings from European intelligence services about Moscow’s possible preparations for provocations. In particular, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, Czech intelligence services, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have previously stated that there are risks of hybrid or limited military strikes by Russia against the territory of NATO countries in the coming months.
Analysts identify the Suwałki Corridor, which connects the territory of Belarus with Russia’s Kaliningrad region via the border between Poland and Lithuania, as one of the most vulnerable areas.
Supplement
On September 16, the European Parliament adopted a report on hybrid warfare and strengthening the protection of the EU’s territorial integrity and critical infrastructure against threats from Russia. The document proposes creating a coordinated response mechanism for threats, analogous to Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, as well as establishing an institution to maintain a "Black Book of Russian Hybrid Aggression."