Russian state news agency published a column threatening Lithuania with Russia’s ‘next SVO.’ Hours later, it was deleted.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti initially published a controversial column threatening Lithuania with a nuclear strike. The article, titled "Russia Is In for Another SVO. It Will Be Very Short," was written by freelance contributor Alexander Nosovich. Nosovich argued that Lithuania's decision to potentially station nuclear weapons made it an ideal location for Russia to store them.

He labeled Lithuania as "a suicidal country with no brains whatsoever," "a useful idiot," and a "small but proud kamikaze in Russia's near abroad." Nosovich threatened Lithuania with both an invasion and a nuclear strike, emphasizing that Russia could quickly deploy missiles with warheads if necessary. The column was deleted a few hours after its publication due to it not aligning with RIA Novosti's editorial views, policy, or Russian state policy.

However, a copy of the article was preserved in a web archive. Nosovich, who is a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and editor-in-chief of the pro-Russian outlet RuBaltic.Ru, has ties to Russia’s Presidential Administration and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.