Russian air defense forces begin exercises after Finland's entry into NATO

MADRID, 10 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Russian Army has begun maneuvers of its air defense forces on the border after Finland has completed the NATO accession process and in the face of what Moscow describes as "an increased level of threat", as confirmed by the 'number two' of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Andrei Demin.

"Finland has become part of the NATO bloc. Sweden is preparing to join the alliance. Under these conditions, the air defense forces are practicing measures to protect the state border in the northwest of the country, in line with the increased level of threat", he said, in a statement given to the newspaper 'Krasnaya Star', dependent on the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Kremlin warned last week that Finland's entry into NATO "will greatly aggravate the situation" and stressed that Moscow "is forced to adopt tactical and strategic countermeasures" in the face of what it defines as an "intrusion" by the Atlantic Alliance on your safety. The spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dimitri Peskov, stressed that NATO "is a hostile structure" to Russia, although he pointed out that "the situation in Ukraine is very different from that in Finland, so it is not possible to compare."

Finland formally applied to join NATO in May 2022, along with Sweden, in an unprecedented turn to its policy of neutrality that was directly in response to the growing threat stemming from Russian expansionist activities in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Finland shares more than 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia.