At the end of May, information was disseminated in the Russian information space about the alleged mass evacuation of residents of the Lithuanian-Polish border area, allegedly prompted by rising tensions between NATO and Russia and the threat of a possible conflict. To lend credibility, Russian propaganda claimed it was quoting an article from the news site Bild. Although the German site published an article on 25 May about the geopolitical situation in the region and interviewed residents, it made no mention of any evacuation of Lithuanian or Polish citizens. Later, this false information was also linked to a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on lifting restrictions on the distance of weapons supplied to Ukraine for strikes deep inside Russia. Even though the Bild article was published before Merz's statement, Russian propaganda actors claimed that Western support for Ukraine was increasing tensions between Russia and NATO and causing panic among Lithuanian and Polish citizens. It cannot be ruled out that, under the guise of a well-known portal, Russian propagandists sought to infiltrate and gain traction in the Western information space.
The inauguration of the German Brigade in Lithuania was also portrayed in a negative light. The main hostile messages claimed that NATO countries pose a threat to the Union and that attempts are being made to discredit the Lithuanian state, arguing that the deployment of the brigade signifies 'the loss of Lithuanian sovereignty.' The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought to draw historical parallels with the Second World War, describing the deployment of the German Brigade as a 'repeat of history.'
Official statements by Russian officials portrayed NATO and Lithuanian military exercises in the Baltic Sea region in a negative light. The main hostile and misleading messages claimed that NATO military exercises near the Belarusian and Russian borders posed a threat to these countries and demonstrated the aggressive intentions of the Alliance members. Tension in the information space on this issue increased after the incident on 14 May, when the Estonian Navy attempted to detain the tanker Jaguar, suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. Over the month, this incident was widely linked to the exercises mentioned above, seeking to reinforce the narrative that threats emanate from the Baltic Sea region or that the Baltic Sea could become a future point of confrontation between NATO and Russia.