We’ve been aware of it all along: “We know our neighbour. … It’s Russia’s classic playbook – taken straight from the KGB,” says Estonian PM Kaja Kallas.
What assures us that the plans are authentic and not a Western ruse to justify the reinforcement of the Baltics’ military deterrence? Because, among other expert scrutinizers, the London-based Dossier Centre, Lithuania’s broadcaster LRT, Latvia’s Re:Baltic, Estonian Delfi, Poland’s Front Story, Süddeutsche Zeitung, German radio networks WDR and NDR, the Kyiv Independent, and Central European Front Square, Expressen, and others have trust in their authenticity.
Developed by the Putin regime’s ‘Directorate for Cross-Border Co-operation’ in 2021, the leaked documents betray Moscow’s intentions to block the establishment of NATO military bases, weaken neighbouring democracies, bolster Russian culture and language, and influence and empower pro-Kremlin political groupings. The Directorate is staffed by Russian intelligence specialists from all three services – the FSB, GRU and SVR covering domestic/political, military and foreign aspects of the plans respectively.
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