Response: what measures will the Russian Federation be forced to take after Sweden and Finland join NATO

The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will force Russia to increase the grouping of troops in this direction, as well as to take a number of specific measures, including planning high-precision missile strikes against targets on their territory.

This is stated in the material "Modern Challenges to the Military Security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic", published in the magazine of the Ministry of Defense for the highest and senior command staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation "Military Thought".

“On our part, this will require building up the composition of ground and coastal forces, missile forces and artillery, air defense and aviation forces, including unmanned ones, in the northern direction, as well as planning strikes with long-range precision weapons against targets in Finland and Sweden,” — noted in the article.

According to the authors of the material, despite the fact that the planned entry of Stockholm and Helsinki into the alliance is in fact only a legal formalization of long-established relations, it should be considered as the most urgent challenge for Russia, which requires the adoption of adequate measures.

“This is due to the fact that the length of the state border of the Russian Federation with neighboring NATO member states will increase by more than 1 thousand km, and on the territory of these countries, by analogy with Norway, formations of the Allied Forces (Joint armed forces. -

) NATO and deployed a system for the advance storage of weapons and military equipment, materiel, ”the material emphasizes.

In addition, the newspaper notes, the possible deployment of operational-tactical missile systems in Finland will pose a threat to military-industrial complex facilities in the Arkhangelsk region and to the transport infrastructure of the region.

• SAU 2S1 "Gvozdika" at tactical combat training exercises at a military training ground in the Murmansk region

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• © Pavel Lvov

unresolved issue 

Finland and Sweden, which until recently had the status of neutral countries, after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, announced their intention to join NATO.

The alliance welcomed the intention of Stockholm and Helsinki, adding that the bloc will strengthen its presence in these countries even before they are officially accepted into its ranks.

This was announced on May 15, 2022 by the Secretary General of the organization Jens Stoltenberg.

“Obviously, the membership of Finland and Sweden is important for NATO.

We will consider ways to provide security guarantees, including increasing the NATO presence in the Baltic region, in and around the territories of Finland and Sweden, and, of course, in close consultation with Finland and Sweden and with their consent,” Stoltenberg said.

On July 5, the permanent representatives of the NATO countries signed the protocols on the accession of Finland and Sweden, which marked the beginning of the process of ratification of the countries' accession to the alliance.

To complete the procedure, the protocol must be approved by all 30 states included in the bloc.

To date, only Hungary and Turkey have not signed the relevant documents.

The Hungarian Prime Minister promised to ratify the agreement in early 2023.

In turn, Ankara expects the candidate countries to fulfill their obligations to join NATO.

Recall that Turkey was initially against the entry of Finland and Sweden into the North Atlantic bloc due to a number of political disagreements with these countries.

Ankara demanded that their authorities agree to a number of their conditions, primarily on the issue of combating Kurdish organizations.

In early November, Jens Stoltenberg said that Stockholm and Helsinki allegedly fulfilled the conditions of the Turkish side, but Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later refuted his words, saying that "both countries have taken certain steps," but for the time being, they still talk about the full fulfillment of their obligations do not have to.

Forced measures

Moscow has repeatedly stated that Russia does not pose a threat to Finland or Sweden.

Nevertheless, according to President Vladimir Putin, despite the absence of problems with these countries, Stockholm and Helsinki should understand the inevitability of a mirror response from the Russian Federation to possible military threats from their side.

He stated this in June, answering journalists' questions at the end of his working visit to Turkmenistan.

“They want (to join NATO. -

) - please.

Only they should clearly and clearly imagine that before there were no threats to them, and now, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in a mirror manner and create the same threats for the territories from which threats are created to us, ”Putin said. .

• Self-propelled howitzers 2S1 on exercises in the Murmansk region

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• © Pavel Lvov

In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev drew attention to the fact that the entry of Finland and Sweden into the alliance would call into question the further non-nuclear status of the Baltic region.

“In the event of such an expansion of NATO, the length of its land borders with Russia will more than double.

We will have to strengthen these boundaries.

The non-nuclear status of the Baltic will become a thing of the past, and the grouping of ground forces and the navy in the northern directions will be seriously increased.

Nobody is happy with this.

And the citizens of the two countries - candidates for NATO - too," Medvedev said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.

Security issue

RISS expert Sergei Ermakov, in an interview with RT, noted that the upcoming expansion of NATO, of course, threatens Russia's security.

“The Russian Federation will be able to secure itself in the northwestern direction.

It is premature to say what specific measures will be taken, as this is a question for military planners.

However, in general, the continuation of NATO's policy of enlargement undermines European security and may lead to confrontation," the analyst stated.

In his opinion, the bloc will gradually build up its military presence in the northern direction, as Stockholm and Helsinki integrate into the structure of the alliance.

At the same time, the process of strengthening NATO's presence in the Baltics and Northern Europe is already underway, Yermakov added.

“At the background of applying for membership, the NATO countries gave security guarantees to Stockholm and Helsinki and announced the strengthening of their military contingents in the Baltics.

The increase in the bloc's military potential in this region will give even more reasons for confrontation.

In this context, it is also worth remembering NATO's nuclear strategic missions, which also cover the Scandinavian Peninsula, which poses a direct threat to the Russian Federation.

And since the threats to our security are seriously increasing, the Ministry of Defense and the military-political leadership of the country are forced to plan an adequate set of measures, forces and means in order to repel this threat, ”the RT interlocutor explained.

• Servicemen of the RF Armed Forces in the Murmansk region

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• © Pavel Lvov

NATO is unlikely to immediately use the territory of Finland and Sweden to deploy nuclear weapons, but their military infrastructure can be quickly adapted for this, Yermakov said.

“The leadership of these states must understand that this will involve them in a serious confrontation and conflict with Russia.

There are a lot of things related to infrastructure, the deployment of warning systems, increasing reconnaissance capabilities, the use of airfields, the organization of a logistics supply system - all this can be used, among other things, for the nuclear forces of the alliance, ”the expert noted.

In turn, military observer Alexander Khrolenko, in a RT commentary, said that Russia would respond to the strengthening of NATO's presence at its northwestern borders, but would not prematurely reveal its plans.

“In its magazine, the Russian Defense Ministry writes obvious things that the grouping will be increased, there will be missiles aimed at new members of the alliance.

However, more specific measures and military planning are within the competence of the General Staff.

But there can be no doubt that Russia will take all necessary measures.

In all areas of combat use: at sea, on land, in the air, in space, everything will be aimed at eliminating a potential military threat, ”the expert emphasized.

At the same time, Russia has obvious advantages that should be remembered against the backdrop of the growing presence of NATO in Scandinavia, Khrolenko added.

“It is enough to look at a geographical map, compare the volume of natural and human resources, as well as the presence of nuclear and hypersonic weapons.

There is nothing even to compare.

Now, when they approach the borders of Russia as part of a hostile bloc, this threat will be met and stopped, ”the expert concluded.