Estonian security experts have dismissed claims circulating in the Western media that Russia is preparing to attack the Baltic states in the near future, arguing the coverage does not critically assess Russia’s messaging.

In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of stories in Western media suggesting that Russia may be preparing to militarily attack the Baltic states, including in the U.S. publication the Wall Street Journal and the UK’s The Telegraph.

Since March, Ukrainian attack drones aiming for Russia’s oil facilities on the Baltic Sea have breached Baltic and Finnish airspace, likely knocked off course by GPS jamming. Moscow has claimed the countries are allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to attack Russia, and threatened retaliation.

Security expert and former Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rainer Saks told ERR Russia has made similar claims in the past and that Western media narratives provide help.

“They are trying to diffuse the blame. The more general reason why this is being done is that we have seen Western media talking, for several years now, about Russia being about to attack the Baltic states. This has created a context for the kind of information operations Russia practices. I think that is the main reason,” Saks said.

Read more: ERR.EE