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Lithuania Weekly: “Day of Shame” Protest Exploited to Push Conspiracies About Elite Control

Over the past week, Kremlin-aligned media in Lithuania amplified the “Day of Shame” protest in Vilnius, portraying it as evidence of national unrest and societal collapse. Both the organisers and participants were targeted: accused of inciting chaos, mocked as “dim-witted” or “unemployed,” and discredited as representatives of genuine civic discontent. Central to these narratives was the revival of conspiracy theories about Lithuania being secretly controlled by the so-called “Landsbergiai clan,” a trope used to delegitimise public activism and suggest citizens are manipulated by hidden elites.