Latvian Defence Ministry and Expert: Reports of Russian Reservists Deployed to NATO Borders Are a False Alarm
A claim on social network X that Russia is preparing its largest reservist deployment near NATO borders is being assessed as part of information warfare. Latvia's Defence Ministry and military expert Mārtiņš Vērdiņš say there is no direct military threat to Latvia at present.
Latvia's Ministry of Defence and military expert Mārtiņš Vērdiņš have called a false alarm a claim circulating on the social network X that Russia is preparing to send reservists to areas along NATO countries' borders. The claim was posted a week ago by an account called "Taisnība" ("Truth"), which describes itself as a think tank. It appeared while Russia continues its full-scale war in Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022.
What "Taisnība" claimed
The account said Russia's Defence Ministry is preparing the largest reservist deployment since the war in Ukraine began, and that President Vladimir Putin had approved a line of troop deployment in Russia's northwest, stretching from Karelia to the Kaliningrad region. It would be built around equipment storage bases, where newly produced tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery systems are reportedly already being delivered. The infrastructure could eventually accommodate up to 115,000 soldiers. The first stage would reportedly be presented as exercises and a check of mobilisation reserves.
The ministry's assessment
Latvia's Ministry of Defence says such a narrative can be regarded as part of the aggressor state's information warfare. In its view, there is currently no direct military threat to Latvia, because Russia's resources are largely devoted to the fighting in Ukraine. The ministry nevertheless reminds that the hybrid threat to NATO and the Baltic states is real and that the intensity of hybrid activity will grow in the coming years. Russia remains, and will remain, the main source of threat to Latvia's security, it adds.
The expert's explanation
Vērdiņš told the portal Delfi that the report concerns reserve soldiers who have already served, not everyone who could be mobilised. Calling up reservists for training is common practice in many countries, he said, and Russia is short of personnel partly because it must reinforce its northwestern border after Sweden and Finland joined NATO. Some soldiers will likely sign professional service contracts during training. He rates the report as true but dramatised. A real cause for concern would arise only if professional soldiers returned to those bases after a ceasefire in Ukraine. Reservists are an auxiliary force, not a strike force, he said.
