“When we applied for NATO membership, Russia said it would take such steps. We are now seeing that happen.”
So declared Sweden’s Chief of Defence Michael Claesson in response to Russia’s apparent rage over Sweden and Finland’s recent ascension to NATO.
And, rather than backing down militarily from Ukraine, which was widely expected in recent weeks, Russia has rather troublingly decided to ramp up military operations near another nation.
A newly minted NATO member, no less.
As detailed by the Daily Mail, Putin is rather brazenly massing troops at Finland’s border … bringing back memories from similar movements along Ukraine’s border in 2021 up through the invasion in early 2022.
“Satellite images have revealed how Moscow is bulking up its military presence on the Finnish border – in a chilling echo of pictures taken of Russian bases before Putin launched his war in Ukraine,” the Daily Mailnoted.
Yikes.
And it would appear that Putin is stationing troops in more than one area.
“Moscow is building troop accommodation, aircraft deployment infrastructure and refurbishing old facilities at key military bases, analysts have said, in a sign it is seeking to reinforce its capabilities in the border region … The pictures, which were obtained by Swedish broadcaster SVT from Planet Labs, suggest there has been activity at four locations inside Russia – Kamenka, Petrozavodsk, Severomorsk-2, and Olenya,” the Daily Mailcontinued.
Several of which are right by Finland’s borders.
“In Kamenka, which is around 35 miles from the Finnish border and was previously undeveloped, more than 130 military tents capable of housing some 2,000 troops are said to have been set up since February,” the Daily Mail added.
Quite frightening, to put it mildly.
Especially when considering that other regions of the world appear poised to break into imminent conflict.
Matti Pesu, a leading researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), noted that Russia is certainly flexing its military muscle in an effort to retain a “sphere of influence.”
“The war [in Ukraine] led to a major threat evaluation caused by Russia’s vocal demands for sphere of influence, its appetite for risk-taking and readiness to use military force at a massive scale, as well as its nuclear coercion,” Pesu remarked.
The massing of troops is especially troubling when reflecting upon Putin’s previous commentary regarding the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
Previously, Putin made it seem as though the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO were no big deal.
“We do not have such problems with Sweden and Finland, which, unfortunately, we have with Ukraine. We have no territorial issues… no disputes… we have nothing that could bother us from the point of view of Finland’s or Sweden’s membership in NATO,” Putin mused.
Though Putin also added a bit of a disclaimer in doing so.
“Only they should plainly and clearly realize that there were no threats before, now, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in a mirror manner and create the same threats to the territories from which threats are created to us,” Putin added coolly.
It would seem that the Russian dictator has started “to respond in a mirror manner,” to put it mildly … the only question is just how far he might take the threat.
Author: Jane Jones
These content links are provided by Content.ad. Both Content.ad and the web site upon which the links are displayed may receive compensation when readers click on these links. Some of the content you are redirected to may be sponsored content. View our privacy policy here.
To learn how you can use Content.ad to drive visitors to your content or add this service to your site, please contact us at [email protected].
Family-Friendly Content
Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. Learn More
These content links are provided by Content.ad. Both Content.ad and the web site upon which the links are displayed may receive compensation when readers click on these links. Some of the content you are redirected to may be sponsored content. View our privacy policy here.
To learn how you can use Content.ad to drive visitors to your content or add this service to your site, please contact us at [email protected].
Family-Friendly Content
Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. Learn More
