Russia indulges in further Baltic deportation fantasies

Moscow has also spread false claims – not for the first time – that the Baltic states are preparing mass deportations of Russian-speaking residents, which as well as being inaccurate, is in extremely bad taste given recent events commemorating the mass deportations organized by the Soviet Union, which the current occupant of the Kremlin so admires. "The Baltic states are openly preparing for mass deportations of Russian-speaking residents, apparently hoping in this way to finally resolve the "Russian question" and the unprecedented, especially in the 21st century, problem of mass statelessness on their territory," said Grigory Lukyantsev, who is the director of the ironically-named Department for Multilateral Cooperation on Human Rights at the Russian Foreign Ministry. He did not offer any evidence to support his fantastic claim. Russia has previously threatened to appeal to the UN International Court of Justice to protest the "systematic suppression" of Russian rights in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Such accusations are nothing new – Russia has been claiming since the 1990s that the Baltic states are oppressing their Russian-speaking minorities and planning to deport them. However, they remain, preferring life in the Baltic states to the open door offered to them by Russia. Though fact-free, Lukyantsev's comments have gained a certain amount of international coverage, which was probably the intention all along. Furthermore, the rebuttals and denials of officials in the Baltic states are all likely to be added to the Russian Foreign Ministry's dossier, on the basis that as long as everyone on the internet is talking about what they want, it doesn't particularly matter whether it has any basis in reality or not. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin recently signed a law that expands his powers and allows the use of the Russian military to defend those deemed to "belong" to Russia in other countries, regardless of whether they are Russian citizens or not. However, this too is merely a legal nicety as the Putin regime has long declared its self-appointed right to intervene on behalf of its "compatriots". However, Russia continues to fuel the perception through its propaganda channels that the Baltic states are already actively involved in hostilities against Russia. "By submitting to NATO and EU discipline and offering their territory for hostile actions against Russia in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, the Baltics are playing with fire. They know it well," the propaganda agency RIA Novosti quotes Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying. "If Riga naively thinks that it will be able to participate without consequences, under the NATO umbrella, in military provocations directed against Russia and in the Kyiv regime's terrorist attacks on our citizens by covering itself with imaginary protection, then they are deeply mistaken," thundered 66-year-old Galuzin, a career diplomat, causing absolutely no-one to quake in their boots. Nevertheless, the Latvian Foreign Ministry decided to make an official response. On July 7th the Russian Chargé d’Affaires ad interim was summoned yet again and presented with a note of protest, "categorically condemning the blatantly false statements about Latvia made publicly on 4 July 2026 by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Mikhail Galuzin." A categorical protest was also lodged with the Russian Chargé d’Affaires ad interim regarding the massive missile and drone airstrike on Kyiv on the night of 5–6 July 2026, which claimed the lives of at least 26 civilians and injured more than 60 civilians, including children.