Lithuania ridicules Belarusian claim of thwarted drone attack

Belarusian security chief Ivan Tertel claimed on April 25 that Belarus had prevented an attempted drone attack from Lithuania, according to the Russian state-run media outlet RIA Novosti.

Major Gintautas Ciunis, a representative of the Strategic Communications Department of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, promptly denied the unsupported allegations soon after.

"I can (say) 100 percent that this is disinformation. It's nonsense that Lithuania would carry out a drone strike on Belarus, I cannot find any other word for it," Ciunis said to the Lithuanian media outlet LRT.

Ciunis went on to mock Tertel's accusation, saying that such statements from Belarus "only bring a smile to my face."

Zivile Didzgalviene, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, also denied the claims and characterized them as disinformation.

"Hostile information activities are characterized by the dissemination of disinformation and false accusations. The Lithuanian Armed Forces have not taken and do not take any hostile actions against other countries," she said.

Belarus is Moscow's close ally and has provided extensive support to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, namely allowing Russian troops to launch their unsuccessful offensive toward Kyiv from its territory in 2022. Despite this, the Belarusian military has not directly participated in Russia's war.

In response to aggressive military posturing from Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania agreed in January 2024 to build increased border defenses.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials regularly repeat Russian propaganda talking points and make unsubstantiated accusations toward the West.

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The Kyiv IndependentMaria Yeryoma