The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published a column headlined “Russia Is In for Another SVO [special military operation]. It Will Be Very Short,” which threatened Lithuania with a nuclear strike.
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Alexander Nosovich, a freelance contributor to the agency, wrote the column in response to the Lithuanian parliament’s decision to support lifting the ban on stationing nuclear weapons in the country. RIA Novosti deleted the text a few hours later, saying the piece “does not correspond to the editorial board’s views, editorial policy, or Russian state policy.” However, a copy of the article survived in a web archive.
In the deleted column, Nosovich said European countries “continue to push the idea of moving unconventional weapons to Russia’s borders” and had picked a country “willing to become a nuclear depot.” He also called Lithuania “a suicidal country with no brains whatsoever,” “a useful idiot,” and “a small but proud kamikaze in Russia’s near abroad.”
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Nosovich also compared Lithuania to Ukraine and threatened the country with invasion and a nuclear strike. “This is about what means could be used. And since our adversaries are the first to shift the conversation into the realm of nuclear threats, Russia can even forgo deploying ground troops. Just missiles with the appropriate warhead. The decision would be not just quick, but lightning-fast. Don’t underestimate the importance of a few seconds,” the text says.
Nosovich is a member of the nongovernmental organization Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and the editor-in-chief of the pro-Russian outlet RuBaltic.Ru, which is based in Kaliningrad. The Russian investigative outlet Dossier Center reported in 2020 that staff members of Russia’s Presidential Administration and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service ran an influence network linked to Nosovich.
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