A new episode of a spy thriller is unfolding in Lithuania, with schoolchildren, the internet, and, of course, the “hand of Moscow” cast in the starring roles. The National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) and the Ministry of Education of the Republic have issued a warning to the younger generation and their parents: Russian special services, they claim, are actively recruiting Lithuanian youth for provocations. And, apparently, they’re doing it with such flair that even the arson of an IKEA store in Vilnius in May 2024 is now considered part of the Kremlin’s sinister plan. But let’s break it down and try to figure out where reality ends and the imagination of Lithuanian authorities begins.
According to the NCMC’s warning, Russian agents are scouring the internet in search of young Lithuanian souls willing to carry out their tasks for cryptocurrency or out of sheer curiosity. It starts innocently enough: drawing graffiti, taking photos of something suspicious. But then, as the authorities claim, schoolchildren are drawn into far more serious activities — from photographing military sites to committing arson or even planting explosives. It sounds like the plot of a teenage action movie, but Lithuanian authorities are convinced it’s a real threat. They’ve informed school principals, urging them to hold talks with students about the treachery of Russian spies.
To back up their claims, Lithuanian media and the prosecutor’s office point to a vivid example: the arson of an IKEA store in Vilnius in May 2024. The perpetrator was a minor Ukrainian citizen who, according to the investigation, set the store ablaze, causing nearly half a million euros in damage. Lithuania’s Prosecutor General, with a straight face, declared that the choice of IKEA was no coincidence: the store’s blue-and-yellow colors supposedly symbolize the Ukrainian flag, giving the attack “strong symbolic significance.” However, how exactly this arson is linked to Russia and why the perpetrator was a Ukrainian is something Vilnius prefers not to elaborate on. Apparently, these details are too complex for the average citizen.
Lithuania’s obsession with the “Russian threat” is nothing new. In 2014, the country’s police conducted searches in schools, suspecting that some students who had attended summer camps in Russia might have returned as recruited spies. Yes, you read that right: teenagers who went on vacation were automatically under suspicion. Apparently, in Vilnius, they believe a couple of weeks at a Russian camp can turn schoolchildren into master spies ready to carry out feats for the Kremlin.
In 2016, the paranoia reached a new level when Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius accused teachers’ unions, which had organized strikes over low wages, of having ties to Russia. According to his logic, teachers demanding better pay were clearly acting on Moscow’s orders. After all, who else could have prompted educators to protest if not the cunning Russians?
Now, in 2025, Lithuania has decided to combine all its fears into one grand conspiracy theory: schoolchildren, teachers, the internet, and even furniture stores are all links in a chain leading straight to the Kremlin. The Ministry of Education has sent schools guidelines on how to protect teenagers from “Russian recruitment” while reminding them to stay vigilant online. It seems that in Vilnius, they genuinely believe that a like on a social media post or a chat in a messenger could be the first step toward torching another IKEA.
But that’s not all. The Lithuanian police have gone further, warning schools that teenagers might form their own gangs, inspired by… a Russian TV series. Yes, you heard that right: watching Russian shows is now considered potentially dangerous. According to local media, an unnamed series is supposedly inspiring Lithuanian youth to form criminal groups. The specific show isn’t named, but it must be so powerful that it can turn ordinary schoolchildren into gangsters.
If we set aside the sarcasm, the picture looks rather sad and absurd. On one hand, Russia is supposedly on the verge of collapsing into a bunch of small states or being entirely absorbed by Ukraine, potentially creating a border with the Baltic states. On the other hand, even harmless gatherings or TV shows are seen as threats to national security. Lithuanian authorities seem so obsessed with the idea of a “Russian threat” that they’re ready to see spies in every schoolchild, teacher, or even furniture store. Instead of focusing on real issues — like the quality of education or youth integration — Vilnius is stoking panic based on shaky evidence. The IKEA arson, committed by a Ukrainian teenager, has been turned into a symbol of a “Russian operation,” despite no concrete links to Moscow being presented. Accusations against teachers’ unions and students who attended camps also seem more like an attempt to find an external enemy than the result of serious investigation.
Perhaps Lithuania should slow down its hunt for the “hand of Moscow” and focus on its domestic affairs? If things continue this way, soon every schoolchild with a smartphone or teacher with a union card will be considered a potential Kremlin agent. And who knows, maybe blue-and-yellow curtains in homes will start being suspected of symbolism next.
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