On Tuesday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys stated that NATO should show the Russians that their small fortress in Kaliningrad can be breached. This drew considerable attention and outrage from Russian propagandists, as Ignotas Grūnovas stated in the lrytas.lt article.
Speaking about the threats facing the European Union, a journalist from the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) highlighted the Kaliningrad region.
Budrys stated that NATO should demonstrate its resolve to neutralise this threat and that the Alliance has the means to do so and, if necessary, would destroy the Russian air defence and missile bases located there.
“A fundamental condition for successful deterrence is European unity. However, political polarisation is intensifying,” Budrys noted.
Following this statement, major Russian propaganda outlets were flooded with headlines.
The Kremlin’s mouthpieces reacted to the foreign minister’s words; some politicians directly questioned Lithuania’s independence, while others launched into long tirades.
“Historical lessons” could also be found in the media.
The question of independence
Russian propagandists, who reacted sharply to the comment, interpreted Budrys’s words directly as a call for NATO to attack the Kaliningrad region.
“Earlier, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys called on NATO to strike Kaliningrad,” the TASS agency wrote directly.
Many experts agree that in the event of a potential conflict between NATO and Russia, this region would become the first target for defensive purposes.
And similar words have been spoken by United States (U.S.) generals, including retired General Ben Hodges.
Therefore, even in Lithuania itself, Budrys’s remarks did not receive much attention.
Nevertheless, Budrys’s remarks struck a nerve in Russia. The minister’s comment was bitterly quoted by the local media in Kaliningrad, Russia Today, Sputnik, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Kommersant, and other propaganda outlets.
And the foreign minister received the most attention from what is arguably Russia’s main propaganda agency, TASS, which railed against Budrys’s comment on Kaliningrad for two days.
It is also particularly interesting that, as is customary in the Russian media, Budrys’ other remarks—such as his remarks on trust in NATO and his call for Europe to prioritise defence—were not quoted.
Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers rushed to voice their opinions. Perhaps the first to react to Budrys words was Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.
He declared that such a comment was “disgusting and unacceptable.”
“This statement is so repugnant, so unacceptable, that it immediately provokes a personal response, but I will try to avoid that on the air,” said Kosachev.
Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov, a member of the Federation Council representing the Kaliningrad region, vented his anger and even raised the question of Lithuania’s independence.
“If Lithuanian politicians are resorting to such proposals and such rhetoric, it is worth asking: is Lithuania truly worthy of its independence after 36 years?” the senator asked.
“It is absolutely clear that Paris, Washington, and London would feel the consequences. Therefore, if I were in NATO leadership, I would somehow rein in Lithuania’s uncontrollable provocateurs,” Senderiuk-Zidkov continued angrily.
Kaliningrad Region Governor Alexei Besprozvannych also reacted to Budrys’ comments, stating that he is beginning to seriously worry about the “state of health” of his neighbours.
“We receive statements of this nature periodically. The only thing we’ve noticed is that such activity occurs only in the spring or fall. Therefore, we are beginning to seriously worry about our neighbours’ health,” the governor said.
Submitted a proposal to Latvia
Budrys’ comment hit the mark, as it drew a wide response not only from Kaliningrad lawmakers but also from the Kremlin’s political elite.
That said, Putin’s central propaganda mouthpieces were, at least in the context of other propagandists, somewhat more restrained.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Budrys “calls for NATO to strike the Kaliningrad border ” is insane, but can hardly be taken seriously.
“This statement borders on madness. I don’t think it should be taken seriously. It rather shows how agitated the politicians are. Such agitated politicians are hardly capable of taking thoughtful, complex actions. That’s a good thing,” he told Vesti TV.
“Unfortunately, the Baltic states are indeed maniacally hostile toward Russia. This ‘anti-Russian sentiment’ blinds them, prevents them from thinking about the future, and prevents them from doing what would be in their own interests. In fact, this ‘anti-Russian sentiment’ does them no credit,” he added.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova devoted unusually extensive attention to Budrys’s comments.
“This is truly nothing short of suicidal paranoia. He is not talking about worsening the situation for Russia; he is talking about worsening the situation for his own country, society, and people,” the Russian official stated.
“Anyone with a license—I mean a driver’s license—cannot fail to understand the distance between Lithuania and Kaliningrad. It’s impossible not to know that.
In Lithuania, no matter where you drive, you’ll end up either in Kaliningrad, Russia, or in Belarus. And if anyone is calling on the NATO fleet to strike Kaliningrad, they are directly—not indirectly, not as a hypothetical possibility, but directly—declaring that their country and their people will be put in the line of fire. And under attack,” added Zakharova.
The Kremlin propagandist offered her own suggestion—the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should consider “shutting down” the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to its threats against Kaliningrad.
“Think about it: the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Russia was lying when it said that the Kyiv regime is dragging the Baltic states into an escalation of the conflict with Russia, while the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on NATO to strike Kaliningrad.
Why didn’t the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs say that the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has gone mad? Why didn’t the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs say that the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to be shut down because it is dragging the Baltic states into the conflict?” – Maria Zakharova told the propaganda channel Sputnik.
The spokesperson was referring to Russian accusations made on Tuesday that Latvia was allegedly launching Ukrainian drones from its bases toward Russian targets. Both Riga and Kyiv rejected these statements, calling them “lies.”
The Kremlin’s mouthpiece repeated a frequently used Russian tactic—whataboutism—in which attention is diverted from the main point or issue to another, supposedly similar case.
Zakharova added that such comments by Budrys are “madness, completely suicidal paranoia.”
“Another thing is that they are being paid for this. They are doing everything in the interests of those who need to cause chaos on the European continent, prolong it, and expand it. This is a fact, and there are no emotions here, no emotional undertones,” the diplomat continued.
While Zakharova and Peskov made relatively “restrained” comments, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, voiced his unfiltered opinion.
Responding to Budrys’ remarks, he lashed out at the Baltic states and “the anti-Russian statements of their representatives,” comparing them to “empty barking.”
Medvedev stated on the Telegram platform that “first, the Estonian representative said that it is not worth starting negotiations with Russia until Ukraine makes progress on the front. Then the Lithuanian representative suggested showing the Russians a thing or two and breaking through to Kaliningrad.”
“Recently, the fools from the so-called Baltic states have once again distinguished themselves with their joyful Russophobic barking. First, some guy (Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna) declared that negotiations with Russia should not begin until ‘Ukraine’ makes progress on the front.
And then some Lithuanian clinical degenerate nicknamed “Budrys” suggested “showing the Russians” and breaking through to Kaliningrad.
As is well known, small dogs bark loudly at big ones to boost their own authority. This is understandable: after all, their brains are very small.
If they had bigger ones, they would have suggested something else: to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty against those countries “regarding those three extinct Baltic states,” Medvedev snapped.
A “Lesson” in History
Other Russian propagandists did not limit themselves to quoting politicians’ statements and even presented their own “little lesson” in history.
“The first May thunderstorm, which a few days ago significantly enriched vast territories of Russia with ozone, unexpectedly brought to mind on May 18 the work of the same name by the Russian classic Alexander Ostrovsky.
In this classic play, set in the “dark kingdom” of a backwater in provincial Russia of the time, two idle townspeople ponder the origins of Lithuania, which they claim “fell upon us from the sky.”
It is unlikely that the classic author could have imagined that, 165 years after the first production of “The Storm,” this phrase would suddenly become relevant. However, it was not today’s small post-Soviet republic, with fewer than 3 million inhabitants, which was annexed to the Russian Empire 70 years before the play was written regarding the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that “fell from the sky.”
Rather, it was Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys who, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, called on NATO to strike the Kaliningrad region immediately. —Propagandists Alexei Turbin and Andrei Surzhansky presented Budrys’s words in one of their propaganda “analyses.”
As is typical of Russian propaganda, the authors “dug up” a speech Putin had given earlier and claimed that Budrys’s statement confirmed the dictator’s words.
In a comment made on May 9 of this year, Putin claimed that the West had hoped to “take something” from Russia when the country was supposedly set to collapse in 2022. Allegedly, this is precisely why some countries joined NATO.
“Everyone hoped to take something from Russia, to grab something. Why did Finland join NATO? Did we have any territorial disputes with Finland? No. Everything had long been resolved; nothing was needed, and Finland’s leadership understood this perfectly well. So why did they join NATO? Hoping that everything here would fall apart, and here they are—bang, bang. They’re already building a wall along the Sestra River,” Putin snapped.
According to the article’s authors, these words by Budrys now leave no doubt whatsoever as to the accuracy of Putin’s comment. “They wanted that back then, and they’re still dreaming about it now,” the propagandists write.
Further on, in a vivid narrative that more closely resembles a play set in an alternate reality, Russian propagandists used a comparison to the British film classic *The Great Dictator* as an “argument.”
“However, the Lithuanian foreign minister was not in the least bit bothered by the caricatured similarity between the circumstances in which he made this appeal and the famous scene from Charlie Chaplin’s film “The Great Dictator,” in which the main character rages in his expansionist frenzy against the backdrop of a globe that has become a symbol of the world.
While visiting the University of Zurich, Budrys also, for some reason, spoke against the backdrop of a globe standing in the university auditorium. According to a Swiss newspaper, he pointed alternately at Lithuania, Russia, and the United States, beginning the interview with the claim that “Russia could easily launch a missile at America via the Arctic,” the propagandists claimed.
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