Russian Agency issues ominous threat to EU Member: "Response will be lightning-fast!"; Article quickly removed

This time, Lithuania was the target, but the article was removed shortly after publication, according to the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet.

The article was written by freelance contributor Aleksandr Nosovich, following the Lithuanian parliament’s (Seimas) support for lifting the constitutional ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons. The commentary was titled “Russia Faces Another Special Military Operation. It Will Be Very Short,” and contained threats of a nuclear attack against Lithuania.

According to reports, the article was deleted several hours later. RIA Novosti subsequently stated that the removed article “does not reflect the views of the editorial staff, editorial policy, or state policy of the Russian Federation.” A copy of the article remains available in an internet archive.

In the deleted article, Nosovich described Lithuania as a “suicidal country with not a shred of common sense” and a “small but proud kamikaze in Russia’s neighborhood.”

The article also stated that the “solution” would be not merely quick, but “lightning-fast,” adding that “one should not even think about the seconds that will pass between the moment of an air strike.”

The Meduza news outlet reported that Nosovich is a member of the nongovernmental organization Council on Foreign and Defence Policy and editor-in-chief of the pro-Russian media outlet RuBaltic.Ru, based in Kaliningrad.

In 2020, the investigative project Dossier Center linked Nosovich to an influence network that it said was overseen by officials in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.