Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, said that intelligence assessments suggest Russia is planning potential attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic states or Poland.
Authorities were monitoring the risk of attacks that could disrupt the country’s energy and transport systems, including facilities supporting Lithuania’s connections with the European electricity grid.
Nausėda told journalists that he couldn’t deny the existence of such information, which concerns limited kinetic operations likely targeting critical infrastructure.
Russia dismissed the claim as an excuse to justify NATO’s military buildup in the Baltics.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it’s a fresh batch of bugaboos intended to continue the brainwashing and prepare the population for further militarization.
The three Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — and Poland, all located on NATO’s eastern flank, have strengthened security around key transport and energy infrastructure in recent months.
These countries say they have long been targets of Russian hybrid attacks, a threat that has intensified since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs warned that, with Ukraine increasingly effective at putting pressure on Russia, Moscow might respond with provocations against NATO’s eastern flank.
Poland sent similar warnings, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying that the warnings should be taken seriously and noting that he had been issuing similar alerts for weeks.
Tusk said that Poland is preparing very intensively for various scenarios, and that the coming months could be critical due to the changing nature of the war in Ukraine.
It’s worth noting that the situation in the Baltic region is complex, with multiple factors at play, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the historical tensions between Russia and the Baltic states.
The Baltic states and Poland are working together to strengthen their defenses.
This cooperation is seen as essential in the face of potential Russian attacks.
In a confirmation hearing, officials discussed the need for increased cooperation to counter Russian hybrid attacks.