Lithuania is deploying up to 30 troops to strengthen protection of strategic infrastructure amid concerns over possible Russian provocations.
Under an order signed by Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas, the unit will assist the Public Security Service (VSD) from Thursday until July 18.
The security will be enhanced at the liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipėda, the LitPol Link interconnection station with Poland, a transformer substation in the Alytus district, the Kruonis pumped storage hydroelectric plant, and the Klaipėda liquid energy products terminal.
The Interior Ministry said Russia has been spreading unsubstantiated claims that the Baltic states are allowing their airspace or territory to be used for Ukrainian strikes against Russia.
The ministry noted that such escalatory rhetoric aims to divert attention from setbacks on the frontline and undermine support among Ukraine’s allies.
The Interior Ministry also warned that Russia may be planning provocations against strategic sites in the Baltic states in order to increase regional tensions.
Russia’s rhetoric against Baltics ‘has a purpose’, says military chief
Russia’s rhetoric and provocations are aimed at undermining public trust in the state and its institutions, Lithuania’s Chief of Defence Raimundas Vaikšnoras said on Thursday.
“The rhetoric from the Russian side over recent weeks, directed against the three Baltic states and Poland, likely has a specific purpose, as so far it remains limited to words,” Vaikšnoras told Žinių Radijas.
He noted that the escalating rhetoric has been accompanied by airspace violations in the Baltic region.
“We have lived for years in close proximity to a Russia that constantly seeks, in one form or another, to break not only Lithuania but also Latvia and Estonia. The current disinformation campaign is aimed at undermining faith in government institutions, the military, and the state in general – a process that has been ongoing since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the occupation of Donbas in Ukraine,” the military chief said.
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