DISINFO: Baltic States may have launched the drones strikes on Pskov
SUMMARY
It may turn out that all these [drones in Pskov] were not launched from Ukrainian territory. The Estonian border is there. Some strange sounds were heard from there. This will need investigation and confirmation. But the question on Estonia's involvement remains open.
Pskov is next to the NATO border. Where did the launch come from? From Ukraine or what? No way! From Baltic territory? Destroy the hell out of the Baltic states, if that’s the case. Wipe them out. Oh, no, not from the Baltic countries? Then it was done by a sabotage and reconnaissance group? Did it come from Baltic territory? Still, a retaliatory strike on the Baltic states is needed.
RESPONSE
On the night of August 29, a series of explosions were heard at Pskov airport. It later emerged that four Il-76 military transport aircraft were damaged by reported drone strikes. At least two of the aircraft were destroyed.
There was no reasoning provided for the claims that the drones came from Estonia beyond the distance between Estonia's border and Pskov. However, the Estonian government has firmly denied the claims. A statement sent to Newsweek from a spokesman for the Government Office of the Republic of Estonia said: "This is false information." The Ministry of Defence of Latvia issued a similar statement, denying any involvement of Latvia as well, and denounced the accusations against the Baltic States as a Russian disinformation campaign.
As the crow flies, the closest distance between Pskov and Ukraine is about 310 miles. This would have required the drone to fly through the airspace of Belarus. Avoiding Belarusian airspace could extend the journey to 700 miles or 435 miles, depending on the route. However, Ukrainian drones such as the UJ-22 Airborne, Raybird-3 и BPLA "Bober" are reportedly able to fly distances up to and beyond these distances.
The drone strike on Russia's territory is a consequence of Russia's unprovoked full scale invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022. Calls to "wipe out the Baltic States" is an example of another unprovoked bellicose narrative from Moscow, which regularly threatens the world with nuclear weapons.
See more disinformation cases on the Baltic States.