Russia said that it would apparently be taking countermeasures after Finland announced Monday that it would be joining NATO’s military alliance on Tuesday, which is set to raise the significance of the conflict currently playing out in Ukraine, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The Daily Mail reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the recent addition to NATO was an “encroachment on our security and on Russia’s national interests,” noting that Russia would be carefully monitoring any potential military installations in Finland.
Russia and Finland share an 830-mile border, and the Kremlin has suggested that they intend to increase their military presence in the west and northwest.
The Kremlin also noted that one of the reasons why it invaded Ukraine in 2022 was to stifle a threat that would have seen the West using Ukraine as a platform with which to threaten Russia. Shoigu mentioned that Russia has now been taking steps to measure the nuclear strike potential of its close ally, Belarus.
Shoigu went on to mention that military jets controlled by Belarus had the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, per the Daily Mail. The outlet also mentioned that Russia had sent Belarus Iskander rocket systems, which are also capable of transporting nuclear missiles.
This show of confidence on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin runs counter to what a former protection officer has said about the president, suggesting that Putin is “pathologically afraid for his life,” per the Independent.
Gleb Karakulov, 35, a captain in the Federal Guard Reserve, has reportedly pleaded with his former colleagues in releasing evidence against Putin in order to end the war in Ukraine. Karakulov, in a message to Russian citizens, said Putin had “lost touch with the world” after living in “an information cocoon for the past couple of years, spending most of his time in his residences, which the media very fittingly call bunkers.”
The Independent also reported that Karakulov, who managed to flee from Russia by way of Istanbul, said: “I would like to address Russian officers, including the FGS officers. You have information that is not broadcast on television. I have only seen a tiny part of it. Come forward, support me [with more evidence]. You will help our citizens to learn the truth.”
Karakulov continued: “How many nameless victims of this war are there, how many of them are children? How many more such victims are required before you stop putting up with it? Our president has become a war criminal.”
