RIA Novosti published a column stating that Russia is facing another 'SMO' — with Lithuania. It was later deleted with the note 'Does not comply with state policy'

On the morning of September 25, an article by Alexander Nasovich titled "Russia is facing another SMO. It will be very short" appeared on the website of the state agency.

The article discusses the potential for Lithuania to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory and how Russia would have to respond to such a move. According to the author, in this scenario, Russia might forgo introducing ground troops and immediately launch a missile strike "with an appropriate warhead".

"It cannot be said that Russia has no choice at all. Russia has a choice: how to fight. It's not even about whether it will be long or quick. Of course, it will be quick: a military conflict in the Baltics, simply due to geography, cannot be the same as in Ukraine," Nasovich believes.

He calls Lithuania "a suicidal country with no brains at all" and a potential "next training ground after Ukraine for Russian missile forces to practice combat sorties."

"Such small but proud kamikazes in our country's near abroad have been indispensable in 'deterring Russia' since it once again transformed into a global center of power," Nasovich writes.

Павялічыць

Alexander Nasovich is a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, one of the co-founders of the Valdai Club, and editor-in-chief of RuBaltic.Ru. In 2020, the "Dossier" Center linked him to the "Baltic network," which, according to investigators, was created by an employee of the Presidential Administration and foreign intelligence colonel Yevgeny Umerenkov. LRT published correspondence indicating that Nasovich received assignments for RuBaltic from Kremlin-linked curators.

Earlier, heads of European intelligence services warned of increased Russian pressure on NATO in the coming months. The head of the Czech Security Information Service, Michal Koudelka, believes that, in addition to increased drone activity, the Kremlin might undertake "a small invasion into NATO territory bordering Russia."

Russia publicly rejected these statements. However, after information emerged that Lithuania was lifting the ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Lithuania's territory would also be "under the sight" of Russian nuclear weapons, and added that "this would be a very serious turn in terms of escalation and tension."

Later, the article on RIA Novosti was deleted with the wording "does not comply with state policy."

For some time, a 404 error page opened in its place, and later the publication decided to explain the deletion of the material.

"The article by freelance author Alexander Nasovich was removed from the ria.ru website because it does not comply with the editorial opinion, editorial policy, and state policy of the Russian Federation," states the editorial message now on the page where Nasovich's article was previously located.

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