Russia launches social media campaign targeting Narva

Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) says a recent Russian disinformation campaign urging the Estonian city of Narva to declare itself an independent republic echoes a 2015 operation directed at southeastern Lithuania.

The VSD told the ELTA news wire that while no current separatism-inciting attacks against Lithuania have been detected, a similar campaign was carried out in 2015. At that time, a Facebook page called “Vilnius People’s Republic” was created to mimic a separatist movement in the country’s southeast.

The department described separatism as one of the methods actively used by the Russian regime to destabilise other states and expand its influence. “Information attacks that fabricate supposed separatist groups on social media are one expression of this strategy,” the VSD said. It added that these operations are organised by Russian intelligence services and other entities implementing Moscow’s aggressive foreign policy.

Estonia’s security services have described the latest campaign as a potential prelude to invasion, drawing parallels with Russia’s 2014 aggression in Ukraine. The German tabloid Bild reported this week that Russia may be preparing to attack Narva, a border city of about 50,000 people, 90 percent of whom are Russian speakers.

Narva is located in eastern Estonia.