Pro-Kremlin media in the first quarter of this year increased their coverage of the alleged unreliability of European electricity grids, claiming that Baltic synchronisation would drastically drive up energy prices, Debunk.org reported on Friday.
After analysing coverage of the disconnection of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from the Russian BRELL energy ring in February, the NGO identified 380 publications on the subject in the first three months of 2025, potentially reaching 382 million users.
"From mid-January to early March, there was a surge in negative coverage regarding the Baltic states' efforts to achieve energy independence," the report said.
In its coverage of the Baltics' decoupling from the Russian system, pro-Kremlin media used terms such as "energy disaster", "electricity price spike" and "economic chaos", according to Debunk.org.
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The focus was often on showcasing the reliability of the BRELL network, contrasting it with the alleged unreliability of European grids. According to Debunk.org analyst Algirdas Kazlauskas, a prominent aspect of this narrative was the supposed superiority of Soviet-era technology.
Another tactic was to alarm the public by suggesting that disconnecting from Russia would disrupt the electricity supply.
Debunk.org also noted other recurring narratives, including claims about the economic advantages of the Russian system and arguments that synchronisation with the West was just a consequence of the political elite's "Russophobia", which would lead to skyrocketing electricity prices for ordinary people.
The Ignalina nuclear power plant, whose closure was said to have caused Lithuania's economic downturn, was also mentioned.
Kazlauskas noted that after none of the threats promoted in Russian media came true, the narrative shifted to reports of the Kaliningrad region operating smoothly under energy isolation conditions.
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