“Since February this year, we’ve observed a different approach from the Russian special services,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, the government agency tasked with managing emergencies and building resilience. “Instead of so-to-speak ‘soft measures’ like disinformation or cyber, they’ve turned to more kinetic actions.”
According to Vitkauskas, giving Russian-linked vessels unfettered access to the Baltic Sea threatens critical energy infrastructure.
He suggested “a concentrated passage in the sea where exactly those ships can cross,” making it “easier for us to monitor.” Gravel or other materials could reinforce undersea cables in the area.
“The power grid operators are confident they have done what is needed to make this work without a problem, even despite some of the Baltic Sea infrastructure challenges,” said Marek Kohv, a former Estonian military official now heading research at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn.
“However, Russian disinformation has attempted to play on people’s fears, with some ordinary people worrying they have to stock up on water and tinned goods,” he added. “In reality, this information operation is the real danger, not the synchronization with the European network.”
Experts say Russia’s own exclave of Kaliningrad — an area just larger than Montenegro sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic coast — may actually face the most serious challenges.
