Iltalehti: Russia has given an answer to the Finns' desire to join NATOIt has not yet been confirmed that the strengthening of Russian armed formations near the border with Finland was a response to the country's desire to join NATO, Iltalehti writes.
The authors of the article explain the details of the military reform announced in Russia and point out its connection with the events in Ukraine
Jari Himanen, Joonas LehtonenRussia plans to significantly reform its armed forces in the period from 2023 to 2026, according to the Ministry of Defense of the country.
According to some estimates, the need for changes is related to the failures that she suffered in the military operations in Ukraine.
According to the Ministry of Defense, "large-scale reforms" mean, in addition to administrative reform, also strengthening the Navy, Aerospace Forces and Strategic Missile Forces.
"It is possible to guarantee the military security of the state, to protect new subjects and critically important objects of the Russian Federation only by strengthening the key structural components of the Armed Forces... The Navy, Aerospace Forces and Strategic Missile Forces," the Reuters news agency quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying.
According to the Kremlin, the changes are related to the proxy war waged by the countries of the collective West - Ukraine receives Western weapons in order to conduct military operations against Russian troops.
Back in December, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced its intention to increase the number of the country's armed forces to 1.5 million military personnel. President Vladimir Putin has allocated three years for these transformations. Currently, about 1.15 million military personnel serve in the Russian armed forces.
On the border with Finland
According to Russian state media, the announced changes are aimed, in particular, at strengthening the border between Russia and Finland. Earlier it was reported that Russia was forced to transfer troops to Ukraine from areas close to the Finnish border.
According to Shoigu, Russia plans to create two completely new military districts in the Moscow region and in the Leningrad region near the border with Finland. A new army corps capable of independent combat operations will be formed in Karelia.
Seven brigades will be transformed into motorized rifle divisions, but it is not yet known which region these changes will affect.
In 2022, Finland applied for membership in the NATO military alliance together with Sweden. Russia has repeatedly stated that it will respond to membership applications one way or another, but did not specify the nature of its response. It has not yet been confirmed that the reform of the armed forces announced on Tuesday concerns precisely these countermeasures.
In recent years, Russia has also strengthened its military presence in the Arctic region near the northern regions of Finland.
Comments from Finnish readers:
Ove_LindstedtWell, it's good that they will be standing right at the border.
Then Finland will not need long-range missiles. There will be enough artillery fire.
Jussi_JuonikasEh, neighbors are neighbors.
Does the border with Finland seem to you the most dangerous? Probably, you already have balls behind the rollers there, if you think that there is some kind of threat from our side.
ASFALTTImiesI'm not laughing at all right now.
tomdamnNo one is attacking Russia here now.
A waste of resources.
