They are participating in an operation which is positioned as the most important since the end of the Cold War. It is also the first on a large scale with Finland and Sweden.
Two years have already passed since Russia began its military invasion in Ukraine in order to trigger an armed conflict that remained constant and which led the country of President Volodimir Zelensky to request help from its Western allies.
Such tensions influenced the president Vladimir Poutine openly demonstrates about a possible nuclear war, in case foreign forces send ground troops to the region as French President Emmanuel Macron suggested.
“They must remember that we have weapons capable of hitting targets on their territory and that everything they propose scares the whole world. All this threatens conflict with nuclear weapons and, as a result, the destruction of civilization. he assured the Russian Parliament in early March.
And this Wednesday 13th of the same month He brought up the subject again and insisted that Russia “is prepared from a technical and military point of view” in case this triggers a confrontation on a nuclear scale.
Furthermore, announced that it would deploy part of its military capacity near the border with Finland, following its recent entry into the European Union. NATO .
“It was up to them to decide and they have already decided. We didn’t have troops there, but now we will. There was no system there, but they will appear “, underlined Putin.
Amid this scenario of international pressure, From the organization, which Sweden also recently joined, exercises have already started to operate in the event of a possible conflict. with the Kremlin.
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Training of NATO troops
This is precisely one of the objectives of the plan Steadfast Defender 24 NATO’s largest operation since the end of the Cold War .
According to details, it includes a military team of around 90,000 people and with that It aims to “demonstrate NATO’s ability to defend every inch of its territory and the commitment of allies to protect each other against any threat.” .
In this way, The first part of the exercise focuses on “securing the Atlantic to the Arctic”, while the second focuses on “moving troops across Europe, from the High North to Europe central and eastern. .
In this direction, They expect the maneuver to end in May of this year.
These days, The Finnmark region, in the north of Norway, is an area for these training courses.
said place It is located near the border they share with Russia which has an approximate extension of 193 kilometers.
To assess what the responses would be to possible attacks, they face a fictitious enemy .
It is first large-scale NATO exercise involving Finland and Sweden full members , after their respective incorporations in 2023 and 2024.
Likewise, according to a chronicle of BBC among the soldiers of these nationalities, comments stand out according to which they feel more secure knowing they are members of the organization .
The Finnish Minister of Defense, Antti Häkkänen, and his Norwegian (Bjørn Arild Gram) and Swedish (Pål Jonson) counterparts also They celebrated their Nordic unity while they saw part of the maneuver.
Although Russia has focused its attention primarily on Ukraine, This measure is seen as a long-term planning strategy in the face of possible escalation this could involve NATO members.
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
