PrairiePundit

 Newsmax: Denmark was thrown into turmoil after more than 500 possible drone sightings were reported in just 24 hours, forcing airports to close and fueling fears across Europe of coordinated Russian hybrid attacks, the Daily Mail reported . Police said they have yet to verify the 500 reports but urged citizens to remain alert and provide detailed descriptions. The wave of sightings followed back-to-back disruptions at Copenhagen, Aalborg, and Billund airports this week, grounding flights and leaving thousands stranded. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the incidents as "the work of a professional actor" and labeled them a "hybrid attack." He said the incursions targeted not only airports but also Skrydstrup air base, home to Denmark's fleet of F-16 and F-35 fighters, and a military site in Holstebro. "There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic ...

 Telegraph: The US will gain access to 15 military bases along the border with Russia under a defence deal to be signed with Finland next week. Russia would regard the presence of Nato infrastructure near its borders as a threat, said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman . “This will certainly lead to tension. We can only regret this,” Mr Peskov said. The treaty must be approved by Finland’s parliament. Elina Valtonen, the country’s foreign minister , will be present in Washington during the signing to meet Antony Blinken, the United States secretary of state . Washington signed a similar pact with Sweden on Dec 6 that gives the US access to 17 military bases. Concerns raised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led both Finland and Sweden to abandon their military non-alignment and apply for membership in the Nato. Finland joined in April , while Sweden is still waiting for its bid to be ratified by Nato members Hungary and Turkey. ‘There were no problems’ with Finlan...

 AP: NATO member Finland on Wednesday closed its last remaining border crossing with Russia after the government decided to seal the entire border with its eastern neighbor amid rising political tensions. The Cabinet of Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo decided to temporarily close the entire 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border between the two countries a day earlier over concerns that Moscow was using migrants to destabilize the Nordic country in an alleged act of “hybrid warfare.” The Raja-Jooseppi crossing point in Finland’s Arctic Lapland region, located some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the northern Russian city of Murmansk, closed at 2 p.m. Wednesday, according to the checkpoint’s normal November schedule. Ville Ahtiainen, a deputy commander with the Finnish Border Guard in Lapland, told reporters that the remote border crossing, located in the middle of rugged wilderness, was quiet during the four hours it remained open Wednesday, with a handful of vehicles passing thr...

 The Telegraph: When Finland officially joined NATO in April this year as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin threatened that it would respond with “counter measures”. Now, seven months later, it appears Putin is trying to take his revenge on its neighbour . Over the past ten days, Finland has hurriedly been shutting its border crossings with Russia. On 18 November, Helsinki shut four; another three were closed on the 24th. Now just one checkpoint along the 830 mile border - the most northern Raja-Jooseppi crossing - remains open, although according to the Finnish press it may not stay so for long. The reason for Finland’s rush to shut down its crossings is the sudden surge in the number of third-country asylum seekers arriving at the border. Since the beginning of November alone, some 900 migrants from countries including Morocco, Somalia and Afghanistan have crossed over from Russia with the aim of claiming asylum in Finland, the country’s border agency h...

 Yahoo News: Norway may follow Finland and close the border with Russia, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Nov. 22, according to the Norwegian TV channel TV2 . Asked by journalists whether it is advisable to follow the example of the Finns and close the border with Russia, the Prime Minister said that Norway could do so "if necessary." Currently, the Norwegian authorities are closely monitoring the situation in Finland and Estonia. Read also: Russia’s military expansion near Finnish border raises questions, but no immediate threat to Helsinki, say experts Norwegian Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl expressed a similar opinion on Nov. 16, and the next day the same statement was made by Estonia. Finland announced on Nov. 16 the closure of four border crossings located in the east along the border with Russia. The restrictions will be in effect until Feb. 18, 2024, but could be extended. Several more checkpoints were closed on Nov. 22, leaving only one Russi...

 Euro News: Finland is to close three of the last four remaining border crossings with Russia, suspecting Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis, the Finnish Prime Minister announced on Wednesday. "The government has today decided to close more border crossings. Only the Raja-Jooseppi crossing will remain open," Petteri Orpo told a press conference. On Wednesday, border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed wire at crossing points on the Nordic country’s long border with Russia to better control the flow of undocumented migrants, officials said. Some 600 migrants without proper visas and documentation, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, arrived in Finland in November compared to a few dozen in September and October. The arrivals include residents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco and Somalia, border officials said. “We need to do this to maintain order (at the crossing points) and guarantee the s...

 Bloomberg: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cautioned that any deliberate damage to the alliance’s critical infrastructure would warrant a response after an undersea gas pipeline was ruptured in a suspected act of sabotage in Finland. ... “The important thing now is to establish what happened and how this could happen,” Stoltenberg told reporters Wednesday. “If it is proven to be a deliberate attack on NATO critical infrastructure, then this will be serious but will also be met by a united and determined response from NATO.” The gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia, another NATO member that also borders on Russia, started leaking at the weekend, and people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday the investigation is proceeding on the basis that it was sabotage. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters that it was caused by an “external source” as he declined to speculate who may be responsible. ... It is not the first disruption of a pipeline in Europe....

 AP: Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are considering joining the U.S. National Guard's security partnership program in a further expansion of American military ties across Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The chief of the National Guard, Gen. Dan Hokanson , announced the discussions with each country, which had not previously been reported, in remarks at the National Press Club on Thursday. Interest by the three countries in the program is the latest indication of how Russia’s war has led each of those nations to take steps that consider ending long-standing policies of military nonalignment. ... Finland and Sweden were the most recent countries to seek NATO membership; Finland joined in April and Sweden is waiting for approval. Longtime-neutral Switzerland began considering easing export controls on sending weapons to active war zones earlier this year. The National Guard's State Partnership Program is a lesser-known but key military instrument for U.S. troops t...

 ISW: The Russian military command appears to be increasingly shifting responsibility for offensive operations in Ukraine to the Russian Airborne troops (VDV). The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (UK MoD) reported on April 16 that it is highly likely that VDV commander Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky has returned to a “major” but unspecified role in Ukraine after reports that the Russian MoD replaced him on January 13.[1] UK MoD noted that Teplinsky’s return to command in Ukraine will not be limited to just VDV units, but that it is also likely that Teplinsky will try to promote the VDV’s traditional role as an elite force.[2] ISW previously assessed on April 1 that milblogger speculation that the Russian MoD recalled Teplinsky from ”leave“ suggests that Russia may be preparing to reshuffle senior commanders following the failed winter offensive and in preparation for a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.[3] The UK MoD’s apparent confirmation of Teplinsky’s reappointment to ...

 ISW: The Kremlin’s campaign of “Russification” in Ukraine is burning back into Russia itself as it continues to empower and amplify overtly nationalist voices and ideologies. Russia is engaged in a campaign of deliberate “Russification” within Ukraine aimed at the destruction of Ukrainian identity through a multitude of military, social, economic, legal, bureaucratic, and administrative lines of effort.[1] The ideologies that underpin the basis of this “Russification” also form the rhetorical backbone of the pro-war information space, which frequently mirrors its militarism with staunch Russian nationalism and intense xenophobia that is directed both at Ukraine and Ukrainian identity as well as at domestic minorities within Russia itself. The domestic ramifications of the acceptance of the ideology of “Russification” are manifested in the responses by Russian authorities and prominent Russian milbloggers to ethnic minorities in Russia. Several Russian milbloggers and commentators ...

 ISW: ... Russian President Vladimir Putin framed Russia’s efforts to consolidate control of occupied territories of Ukraine as a matter of internal security and rule of law during a meeting with the Russian National Security Council on April 5. Putin called for the continued economic, legal, and social integration of occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia oblasts into the Russian Federation and emphasized the importance of Russian “restoration” efforts in occupied areas in facilitating the integration process.[3] Putin also accused Ukraine of threatening civilians in occupied areas and highlighted recent ”terrorist attacks” against occupation officials and law enforcement agencies, referring to Ukrainian partisan attacks against occupation organs.[4] Putin emphasized the need for intensified law enforcement operations to guard against such attacks and called for the increased participation of local Ukrainian citizens in law enforcement processes, explicitly encouraging...

 ISW: ... The Kremlin continues to attempt to employ nuclear threats to deter Western military aid provisions to Ukraine ahead of Ukraine’s planned counteroffensive.  Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu justified Russia’s decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus by accusing NATO of intensifying combat training and reconnaissance activities near the Russian and Belarusian borders and accused the West of escalating the war in Ukraine by providing additional military aid to Ukraine on April 4. Shoigu reinforced existing Russian nuclear threats by stating that Belarus has nuclear-capable attack aircraft and nuclear strike-capable Iskander-M systems. Shoigu also stated that Belarusian missile forces began training in Russia to operate Iskander-M systems, including the use of tactical nuclear weapons, on April 3. Shoigu’s statements do not present any new information on Belarusian training and are likely part of an information operation. ISW previously reported that...

  National Review: Finland, which shares a more than 800-mile long border with Russia, joined the NATO alliance on Tuesday, becoming the 31st member country. The country’s membership was made official during a formal ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday. Ahead of the official ceremony on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “it will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.” “By [Finland] become a full-fledged member, we are removing the room for miscalculation in Moscow about NATO’s readiness to protect Finland, and that makes Finland safer and stronger, and all of us safer,” Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg also told reporters “there will be no NATO troops in Finland without the consent of Finland.” Finland applied for NATO membership in May, months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Sweden also applied, though the application process has been delayed because of objections from NATO members Turkey and Hungary. Rus...

 Reuters: Finland and Sweden will joint NATO at the same time, their prime ministers said on Friday, presenting a united front to Turkey which has raised questions about both their applications. The Nordic neighbours asked to join the alliance in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but ran into objections from Turkey which accused the two of harbouring groups it deems terrorists. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Friday Turkey's president had told her he had more questions for Sweden than for her country. But she said she would not leave Sweden behind in the process. "It is very important for us, of course, that Finland and Sweden would join NATO hand in hand," Marin told reporters at a joint press conference in Helsinki with her Swedish counterpart. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said as recently as Oct. 6 that his country still opposed Sweden's bid. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who took office last week, said: "We have bee...

Larry O'Connor @LarryOConnor Good morning People ask if I have any hobbies... Quote Tweet Incunabula @incunabula · Aug 18 The Finnish word "kalsarikänni" means “drinking alone, at home, in your underwear”. The Finnish Tourism Agency has released two emojis for the word. Show this thread 8:55 AM · Aug 20, 2022 · Twitter for Android 1 Quote Tweet 20 Likes Tip