Lithuania Weekly: Disinformation Campaign Intensifies Against Lithuanian Leaders

Main narratives:

• The incompetence of the current government
• General anti-government sentiments

Overview:

This week, Kremlin-aligned media in Lithuania intensified their anti-government messaging, focusing on personal attacks against key members of the ruling government. The dominant narratives focused on President Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys, framing them as symbols of a government allegedly “collapsing under its own incompetence.”

Two of the most-engaged stories throughout the week directly targeted President Nausėda. One viral social-media post, massively supported by the source’s audience, openly demanded his resignation, while another article indicated that Nausėda, Ruginienė, and Budrys were “consciously dismantling the state from within.” These pieces portrayed the president not as a national leader but as an active participant in a so-called internal betrayal.

Ruginienė became an even more prominent figure in this week’s disinformation landscape. She appeared in 13 of the 50 most-engaged stories. Kremlin-linked sources used catchy headlines such as “Political chaos – when will Ruginienė’s government fall?” to create a sense of imminent collapse and instability. Other commentaries described her as a “power-hungry careerist” and “the face of Lithuania’s moral decay,” using her as a proxy to delegitimize the entire government.

A recurring theme this week was the claim that Lithuania lacks real leaders. Kremlin-aligned commentators praised this narrative, insisting the country is being run by “amateurs without vision,” or “figures promoted only to serve foreign agendas.” Such messaging framed the government as directionless, with one widely shared piece declaring that “Lithuanians are governed by people who cannot govern themselves.”

Taken together, these narratives aimed to deepen distrust in Lithuanian institutions by portraying the country as trapped in ”fabricated political chaos”, led by officials who are either incapable or actively harmful.