DISINFO: The foolish anti-Russian exercises scared kids in Latvia
SUMMARY
The public anti-Russian military exercises in Latvia are foolish. Troops scared kids when storming buildings and firefighting in Riga's streets in the presence of pedestrians. But if Russia attacked Latvia, in reality the country wouldn't last even one day Daily Mail readers noted.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation campaign about NATO or its member states' military exercises and an attempt to discredit a NATO member-state in Eastern Europe, in this case, Latvia.
As explained by the Ministry of Defense of Latvia,
"the purpose of the “Namejs 2021” military exercise is to assess and upgrade command and control framework of the National Armed Forces (NAF), boost unit interoperability, test and improve supply systems, evaluate and enhance integration of air and ground operations, and practice and analyse tactical response to hybrid and conventional warfare".
The Ministry also published a public warning, stressing that “if you see troops and National Guard soldiers moving outside military training grounds and deployment locations, or witness deployment and positioning of special equipment or other military items anywhere in Latvia, please remain calm”.
Some inhabitants of Riga were reported scared by military action of exercises in the streets of Riga. The representative of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia made a public apology.
However, the claim that Latvian troops opened fire in the middle of Latvia's capital is manipulative and taken out of context so as to prove that NATO is irresponsible and does not care about the lives of the citizens in its member-states.
Finally, Latvia is a member of NATO. In a situation of possible Russian aggression, the country will not be alone. As stated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, “the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all”.
For examples of disinformation about military exercises of NATO see NATO provoking a conflict in the Black Sea; The real aim of Sea Breeze exercises was to escalate tensions with Russia.