Kremlin targets Lithuanians’ deepest sensitivity by seeking to erode trust in the state

Disinformation about a German brigade in Lithuania is built around one of the country's most sensitive ideas: freedom. Aistė Meidutė, editor of Delfi's fact-checking section, said propagandists present the arrival of foreign troops as evidence that Lithuania is occupied and no longer free.

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We see that propagandists are specifically targeting our freedom, as we understand it

She said similar narratives had appeared several years ago when discussion of the German brigade increased, and that the theme has returned as Lithuania strengthens its defenses. The messaging, in her assessment, reverses the roles of threat and protection by casting forces intended to support Lithuania's security as the danger itself.

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The whole table is turned upside down and they play with such reversed cards

Nerijus Maliukevičius, a propaganda expert and associate professor at Vilnius University's Institute of International Relations and Political Science, said direct military confrontation with NATO would carry risks for Russia. He described propaganda and disinformation, alongside cyber operations and attacks, as part of a wider set of hybrid tools aimed at weakening Lithuania's defensive capabilities and the decisions that reinforce them.

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With NATO, such a project would create huge costs and huge risks for Putin, so other types of methods are used

The same approach is being applied to NATO and the European Union, Meidutė said. Narratives portray NATO as an aggressive alliance and the EU as a mechanism that restricts human freedom and opinion rather than guaranteeing independence. The intended effect, according to the experts, is to shift blame onto Lithuania's security partners, divide society and reduce trust in the state and its institutions.

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We call them hybrid attacks