Russian propaganda focused heavily on discrediting NATO in September by exploiting airspace violations in Poland, Romania, and Estonia, the Lithuanian army reports on Monday.
In recent months, Russian aircraft have breached the airspace of NATO members Poland, Estonia, and Romania.
According to Lithuanian military analysts, the incident provoking the strongest reaction in hostile media was the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones on September 10.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Western concerns as “yet another unfounded accusation against Russia,” while Russian media suggested Ukraine might have orchestrated the breaches to provoke a conflict between NATO and Russia.
A similar narrative followed the September 13 violations of Romanian airspace, claiming Ukraine deliberately sent drones into Romania and Poland to secure more financial support from the West.
After about 20 drones violated Polish airspace, NATO announced plans to strengthen its eastern flank and launched Operation Eastern Sentry. Lithuanian analysts noted that Russian propaganda portrayed this response as a direct threat to Russia.
These messages were intended to reinforce the narrative of alleged NATO aggression and convince the domestic audience that Russia was only responding defensively to Western actions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "NATO is de facto participating in this war" with Russia.
After Estonia reported on September 17 that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had entered its airspace for 12 minutes, the Kremlin dismissed the incident as “hysteria,” framing it as part of a NATO “disinformation campaign” to artificially escalate tensions in the Baltic Sea region.
September also saw Russia hold its large-scale Zapad-2025 military exercise, which Kremlin media portrayed as defensive while highlighting Russia’s supposed technological superiority over the West.
Analysts say that last month, hostile information campaigns focused on undermining NATO’s air defence credibility and portraying Ukraine as the provocateur, aiming to erode trust in the alliance and reinforce Moscow’s narrative of an ongoing conflict with NATO.
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