In April 2017, Russian state-sponsored media outlet Baltnews circulated a narrative that NATO forces were seeking Russian speaking volunteers to function as test subjects for a hybrid warfare experiment during the Summer Shield XVI military exercises. Russian Lieutenant General Yuri Netkachev, who has commanded forces in Transnistria and the Caucasus, claimed that Russian speakers would be the subjects of physical, biological, and psychological experiments by NATO forces. Russian state-sponsored media outlet Sputnik declared Summer Shield XVI to be a propaganda tool in order to build anti-Russian sentiment. NATO StratCom reports that Summer Shield XVI was a major focus of Russian-language bots on social media. According to an investigation by Re:Baltica, despite trying to hide its origins, Baltnews is “funded and directed” by Russian state-sponsored multimedia conglomerate Rossiya Segodnya.