We return to the case described last week involving a drone that crashed in Grodno, Belarus. From the very beginning, Bydgoszcz has appeared in this story. The latest theory circulating in Russian media claims that the drone was launched by Lithuanians toward Grodno and was then supposedly meant to be directed at Bydgoszcz, where it was to strike the NATO–Ukraine JATEC center. Many elements of the theories being circulated do not hold up logically, but the goal of inciting Russian and Belarusian society against Lithuania may nevertheless be achieved.

The drone was said to have crashed on November 30 in Grodno. Belarusian services reportedly found a camera and two 32-GB memory cards inside it—information that, from a technological standpoint, is not particularly impressive. That this issue attracted significant attention, especially in Belarus, is evidenced not only by publications in propaganda media but also by Minsk summoning the Lithuanian chargé d’affaires, Erikas Vilkanecasas, who received an official diplomatic protest over what was described as a “provocation.”

Bydgoszcz stretched in theories, but not entirely

The first theories claimed that the drone flew over Grodno and headed to Bydgoszcz, then returned to Lithuania. The propaganda television channel Pervy Informatsionny accused Lithuania of spying on Belarus and Poland (specifically Bydgoszcz). However, this theory does not add up: the drone was supposedly launched from Lithuania, flew over Grodno and Bydgoszcz, then landed in Lithuania—yet somehow crashed in Grodno.