DISINFO: Kaliningrad exclave is threatened by NATO
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: ru.armeniasputnik.am (archived)*
  • Date of publication: December 25, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 179
  • Countries / regions discussed: Baltic states, Russia
Tags:
illegal annexation West Kaliningrad Crimea NATO Warmongering

DISINFO: Kaliningrad exclave is threatened by NATO

SUMMARY

NATO is conducting non-stop activities of mobilization nature. And Russia is already presented as the main adversary. There are no direct threats to attack Russia. Nevertheless, different scenarios are being worked out. For example, to exclude options similar to the “annexation” of Crimea. The threat to Kaliningrad exclave has increased many times. One of the high-ranking NATO generals announced that a military operation against Kaliningrad region is possible. So, NATO exercises are a direct immediate threat to Russian borders.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Western attempts to encircle Russia, Western belligerence and Western aggression against Kaliningrad. The origins of this NATO scenario comes from a recent report by the American Jamestown Foundation entitled “How to Defend the Baltic States”, published in October 2019. The report mentions that “three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - face powerful Russian forces” and therefore this report comes to “lay out the military units and force posture, along with changes to Alliance command and control, that would be needed to prevail in case Russia was to spark hostilities in the Baltic States” after it was proven that "Russian aggression in Chechnya, Georgia, Donbas, Crimea and Syria have proven that military force can be used successfully without eliciting a forceful response from the West". Russian media has extensively misquoted General Jeffrey Harrigian's statements given during a press briefing reported by the digital magazine Breaking Defence. During the press briefing, Gen. Harrigian outlined tactics the U.S. Air Force is developing in response to the ongoing threat of Russian anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and surface-to-surface missiles based in Kaliningrad. No U.S. or NATO plans to conquest or attack Kaliningrad were mentioned. Read full debunk by Polygraph here. In addition, during the Warsaw summit in July 2016, NATO has made it clear that "The Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia".

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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