Putin takes action: military manoeuvres underway at the border of a NATO country

While Ukraine's allies are demanding a 30-day ceasefire, threatening massive "sanctions" on Russia, the Kremlin continues to ignore the ultimatum. A hundred drones were launched on Ukrainian soil overnight from Sunday to Monday.

Moreover, the Russian president has yet to respond to Volodymyr Zelensky's request to meet him “in person” in Istanbul on Thursday.

At the same time, Moscow continues to disregard the warnings and is setting up warehouses, tents, and military equipment near the Finnish border. This is causing serious concern in the West: indeed, this is how the invasion of Ukraine began. Satellite images, obtained by Swedish television SVT, show work currently being carried out on several Russian bases, including Severomorsk-2, Petrozavodsk, Olenya, and Kamenka.

At Kamenka, 55 kilometres from Finland, more than 130 tents have been set up since February to accommodate 2,000 soldiers, according to the Belgian media outlet Sudinfo. Three large warehouses for armoured vehicles have been built in Petrozavodsk. And according to Michael Claesson, the head of Swedish Defence, these manoeuvres were predictable. “When we applied to join NATO, Russia promised to react. We are seeing these measures being implemented,” he declared.

How will NATO react?

Russia accuses NATO of being an “aggressive alliance”. Furthermore, it has reactivated the “Leningrad military district” and deployed new units, reports Sudinfo. For the Finnish army, there's no doubt, Moscow is seeking to test NATO's reaction. “During the war, there were 20,000 soldiers in the region. Today, Russia is building to accommodate more troops than before the war in Ukraine,” notes General Vesa Virtanen.

On his part, Putin denies these threats.“Russia has never threatened anyone”, he asserts.

(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: - Illustration: ©Unsplash)