Could the Kremlin launch a drone and ballistic missile barrage against the Baltic countries? Konstantin Eggert writes for Euractiv, partners of LRT English.
Last week this author, like everyone else in Vilnius, received a civil defence authority text message: “This is an air raid alert, seek shelter”. The reason: an unidentified drone appeared in Lithuanian airspace.
“Air raid alert” is now just another phrase, which – along with “drone” and “hacker attack” – tells of the tense situation that is a recurring topic in social media and news broadcasts.
On May 25, Vladimir Putin signed a law that grants him the right to use the army to “protect Russian citizens” abroad. Simultaneously, Moscow appealed to the United Nations Court of Justice to demand that the Baltic states, particularly Latvia, be held accountable for “infringing on the rights of Russians”.
A massive cyberattack against the Lithuanian state registration agency – ostensibly by Russian hackers – led to a huge leak of citizens’ and residents’ personal data. This included exiles from Russia and Belarus. For Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn, such attacks are all part of Moscow’s psychological pressure on NATO’s eastern flank.
