[…] At the moment there are rather contradictory statements about Sweden and Finland joining NATO. A number of political analysts claim that this doesn’t present a serious threat to us [Russia], some believe that we need to strengthen our borders, to the point of deploying tactical nuclear arms there. What, in your opinion, does their entry into the alliance signify for us?
The situation is quite serious. For instance, the Finns decided to buy the American F-35 fighter-jets. With modern weapons on board, it’s a formidable military force, which poses a danger even to our 5th generation aircraft, which we [the Russian army] now have in very limited quantities.
I believe the Finns, probably, have largely perfected protocols for suppressing our air defense systems. Thus, it’s not surprising that the possibility of using tactical nuclear arms in this region is becoming increasingly relevant to us. […]
After the expansion of NATO to Finland and Sweden, the Baltic Sea will become practically an internal sea of the alliance. What are the military threats of this for us?
Yes, correctly spotted. Since the 1990s the Baltic sea has been largely demilitarized. Most countries, including Russia, kept token contingents of their naval forces there. Now a naval and missile arms race will start in the Baltic.
Worst of all, with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, St. Petersburg is turned into a front-line city. This puts the city under a risk of an attack, as the modern arms of Alliance vessels dive them the capability of delivering a devastating blow to the city. In order to prevent this, we’ll have to seriously strengthen the air and missile defense system there. Läs artikel