Colonel Ants Kiviselg, the head of the Estonian Defense Forces’ Intelligence Center, emphasized that russia is responding to Ukraine’s successful strikes on russian oil refineries and infrastructure facilities by intensifying its information war against the West.
He made this statement during a briefing at the Ministry of Defense, according to ERR.
Kiviselg noted that Ukraine has significantly expanded the range of targets and the range of strikes deep into russian territory.
“This can be divided into two major campaigns. First, the isolation of the Crimean Peninsula, and second, the neutralization of Russia’s energy infrastructure and export capacity,” he said.
He highlighted the strike on the Omsk oil refinery. According to him, it demonstrates Ukraine’s growing capability to carry out long-range strikes. At the same time, it is a striking example of the russian federation’s inability to protect critical areas with its air defense systems.
The colonel stated that russia is reacting quite sharply to Ukraine’s successful long-range strikes.
“To this end, they use hostile anti-Western rhetoric, accompanied by threats and demagoguery. The main accusation is that Ukraine’s success is due to aid and support from the West,” said Kiviselg.
According to him, as part of these hostile narratives, russia has also attacked the Baltic states and Finland, claiming that these countries are allowing Ukrainians to use their airspace to launch strikes against russia, as well as alleging that the Baltic states intend to expel their russian-speaking populations en masse and that nuclear weapons are being deployed in Lithuania or Finland.
“All these statements most likely serve the purposes of a coordinated information operation, the likely goal of which is to create a sense of threat in the West regarding a possible escalation and to undermine unity in continued support for Ukraine,” Kiviselg said.
He added that, in this context, one can also consider the topics that have recently been publicly discussed regarding possible provocations by russia and even military preparations directed toward the Baltic states.
“At present, this should be viewed more as part of an information war waged by Russia to influence Western public opinion. As before, we do not see any military preparations on Russia’s part for a military operation in the Baltic states or in this region in the near future,” Kiviselg added.
As the head of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center summarizes, all these statements most likely serve the purposes of a coordinated information operation, the probable goal of which is to create a sense of threat in the West regarding a possible escalation and to undermine unity in continued support for Ukraine.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on July 8, Lithuania handed a note of protest to a russian diplomat over attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine, as well as in connection with information attacks against the Baltic states.
Meanwhile, russian authorities in Siberia are urging businesses, where possible, to switch to remote work and to limit energy consumption. In addition, citizens have been advised to use their personal vehicles less frequently.
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