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Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
NATO's Northern Flank Prepares To Counter Russia Threat
"Anywhere you are, you can see Russia when you're flying," Brigadier Nick English, commander of the British Army's 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team, said as he strode through the snow and churned ground of Europe's largest training ground in northern Finland. "You're that close," he told Newsweek. But NATO is ready for whatever Russia may do on the alliance's northern flank, military personnel camped out in Finland's Arctic Circle say, despite concerns about how ready Europe's armed forces are for a fight with Russia and how long certain armies could hold out. Finnish, Swedish and British soldiers have been plugging away through joint exercises crafted to induct NATO's newest members into the alliance, live-firing howitzers and loading Hellfire missiles into Apache helicopters roughly 70 miles from the Russian border. More drills have been rolled out further south along NATO's eastern border, close to Russian soil, Belarusian territory and on Ukraine's doorstep. Finland, Sweden and the U.K. have pledged to raise military spending in the next few years, part of a drive across NATO to dedicate significantly more money to the military in the face of fierce criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump and burgeoning worries over what Russia could do next. Military officials across NATO countries are increasingly outspoken about the threat Russia could pose to the alliance once Moscow has had a chance to recover from more than three years of grueling war in Ukraine. Russia's invasion of its neighbor on February 24, 2022, has hacked away at the Kremlin's ground forces but left much of the rest of the Russian military unscathed. There are deepening concerns over where hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened Russian recruits, volunteers and conscripts will end up if a ceasefire deal is inked. Trump and senior officials in his administration have made putting an end to Europe's largest land war since World War II a foreign policy priority, albeit one increasingly frustrating to the Republican president. The Finns are certainly aware that Russia is expanding its bases close to its eastern border. The construction appears to be part of a longer-looking effort to expand Russian military facilities in spitting distance of NATO, The New York Times reported this week. Russia had about 20,000 soldiers and four standby brigades close to Finland before 2022, according to Lieutenant General Vesa Virtanen, deputy chief of the Finnish armed forces. A brigade is typically between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers. "Now we see that Russia is building new infrastructure and bringing more troops to this region as soon as they can," Virtanen told German newspaper Die Welt last month. "They are reorganizing themselves." In late 2022, then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Kremlin would remodel Russia's military structure while inflating the number of service members over the next few years. Parts of the plan were to split Russia's Western Military District—close to NATO's eastern flank—into two districts, Moscow and Leningrad, and to grow the size of the military. This came into force in June 2024. When Finland joined NATO in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that reestablishing the Leningrad Military District was a direct result of NATO increasing its presence on Russia's border. Finland's accession to the alliance doubled the size of NATO's border with Russia. The number of Russian troops based close to Finland could double or triple compared to before the war with Ukraine, Pekka Turunen, head of Helsinki's military intelligence, told Reuters in January. Intelligence assessments, including from Estonia just south of Finland, have warned that NATO could face a large and experienced, if less technologically advanced, Russian military in the next few years. A wavering U.S. commitment makes this possibility more likely, many suggest. Washington's ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said in recent days that talks on reducing the vast U.S. presence in Europe would come in the wake of the alliance's upcoming summit in The Hague. The U.S. was not involved in this round of exercises in Finland, nor did it facilitate the drills. While there is a public confidence in the strength of the alliance, there are concerns about gaping capability gaps across Europe. Air defense systems and supplies, as well as ammunition, are among the most urgent. Related Articles India Ready to Raise US Oil Imports in Boost for TrumpTrump Nuclear Power Update as New Order May Bring Back Cold War-Era ActRussia Redeploys Nuclear-Tipped Air-to-Air Missiles in Echo of Cold WarWATCH: NATO Apaches Loaded With Hellfire Missiles Fire Near Russian Border 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
NATO's Northern Flank Prepares To Counter Russia Threat
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. "Anywhere you are, you can see Russia when you're flying," Brigadier Nick English, commander of the British Army's 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team, said as he strode through the snow and churned ground of Europe's largest training ground in northern Finland. "You're that close," he told Newsweek. But NATO is ready for whatever Russia may do on the alliance's northern flank, military personnel camped out in Finland's Arctic Circle say, despite concerns about how ready Europe's armed forces are for a fight with Russia and how long certain armies could hold out. Finnish, Swedish and British soldiers have been plugging away through joint exercises crafted to induct NATO's newest members into the alliance, live-firing howitzers and loading Hellfire missiles into Apache helicopters roughly 70 miles from the Russian border. Soldiers participate in joint drills between the British, Finnish and Swedish armed forces in northern Finland in May 2025. Soldiers participate in joint drills between the British, Finnish and Swedish armed forces in northern Finland in May 2025. Finnish Defence Forces More drills have been rolled out further south along NATO's eastern border, close to Russian soil, Belarusian territory and on Ukraine's doorstep. Finland, Sweden and the U.K. have pledged to raise military spending in the next few years, part of a drive across NATO to dedicate significantly more money to the military in the face of fierce criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump and burgeoning worries over what Russia could do next. Military officials across NATO countries are increasingly outspoken about the threat Russia could pose to the alliance once Moscow has had a chance to recover from more than three years of grueling war in Ukraine. Russia's invasion of its neighbor on February 24, 2022, has hacked away at the Kremlin's ground forces but left much of the rest of the Russian military unscathed. Finnish conscripts stand by a Soviet-era D-30 howitzer at Rovajärvi training area, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Finnish conscripts stand by a Soviet-era D-30 howitzer at Rovajärvi training area, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Ellie Cook There are deepening concerns over where hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened Russian recruits, volunteers and conscripts will end up if a ceasefire deal is inked. Trump and senior officials in his administration have made putting an end to Europe's largest land war since World War II a foreign policy priority, albeit one increasingly frustrating to the Republican president. The Finns are certainly aware that Russia is expanding its bases close to its eastern border. The construction appears to be part of a longer-looking effort to expand Russian military facilities in spitting distance of NATO, The New York Times reported this week. Russia had about 20,000 soldiers and four standby brigades close to Finland before 2022, according to Lieutenant General Vesa Virtanen, deputy chief of the Finnish armed forces. A brigade is typically between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers. "Now we see that Russia is building new infrastructure and bringing more troops to this region as soon as they can," Virtanen told German newspaper Die Welt last month. "They are reorganizing themselves." In late 2022, then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Kremlin would remodel Russia's military structure while inflating the number of service members over the next few years. Parts of the plan were to split Russia's Western Military District—close to NATO's eastern flank—into two districts, Moscow and Leningrad, and to grow the size of the military. This came into force in June 2024. A British Army M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) during NATO drills in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. A British Army M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) during NATO drills in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Ellie Cook When Finland joined NATO in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that reestablishing the Leningrad Military District was a direct result of NATO increasing its presence on Russia's border. Finland's accession to the alliance doubled the size of NATO's border with Russia. The number of Russian troops based close to Finland could double or triple compared to before the war with Ukraine, Pekka Turunen, head of Helsinki's military intelligence, told Reuters in January. Intelligence assessments, including from Estonia just south of Finland, have warned that NATO could face a large and experienced, if less technologically advanced, Russian military in the next few years. A wavering U.S. commitment makes this possibility more likely, many suggest. Washington's ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said in recent days that talks on reducing the vast U.S. presence in Europe would come in the wake of the alliance's upcoming summit in The Hague. The U.S. was not involved in this round of exercises in Finland, nor did it facilitate the drills. While there is a public confidence in the strength of the alliance, there are concerns about gaping capability gaps across Europe. Air defense systems and supplies, as well as ammunition, are among the most urgent.
Newsweek
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
NATO Shows Force on Northern Flank with Russia as US Pulls Back
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Just a touch above the lower boundary of the Arctic Circle, the snow sticks to the shoulders of the troops standing by howitzers for just a few moments before it melts away. The temperatures for late May, even this far north, have plummeted, making the inhospitable terrain of northern Finland even tougher for the Finnish, Swedish and British soldiers halfway through joint live-fire exercises, dubbed Northern Strike 125, in Europe's largest training ground, Rovajärvi. Over 6,000 soldiers—mostly Finns—are practicing roughly 70 miles west of the Russian border, working out how the three NATO states could use their artillery and drones in a real-life war before the next round of field drills kicks off at Rovajärvi next week. British soldiers have been experimenting with drones for reconnaissance, Finnish conscripts have been training up on small howitzers, and Swedish troops have shown Scandi solidarity with their longer-range artillery systems. "This is a really obvious demonstration of how NATO capability can come to Finland," said Brigadier Nick English, the commander of the British Army's 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team. "You can't ignore the fact that there's a land war in Ukraine at the moment, and part of the role of NATO is in deterrence," he told Newsweek. "In order to deter, you've got to be visible." Finland and neighboring Sweden are NATO's newest members, pushing away from a decades-held policy of non-alignment to join the alliance shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Helsinki and Stockholm have been staunch supporters of Kyiv, and their steps into the alliance's embrace enraged Russia. Finland in particular has a fraught history with Russia, sharing more than 800 miles of land border with Moscow and holding on to memories of being part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. An Archer 155mm self-propelled artillery system firing during NATO exercise Northern Strike 125 in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, in May 2025. An Archer 155mm self-propelled artillery system firing during NATO exercise Northern Strike 125 in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, in May 2025. Finnish Defence Forces But the U.S., which has long propped up other members of NATO with an extensive presence in Europe and by providing some of the most expensive capabilities, is now an unpredictable variable. President Donald Trump and his inner circle have been clear in their desire to pull Washington away from its role as the alliance's spine, swiveling towards domestic issues and to the Indo-Pacific. Less clear are which capabilities Washington plans on withdrawing from Europe, and what the continent will have to urgently replace, a central European official involved in defense planning, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Newsweek earlier this month. All eyes are on the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague next month, officials hoping for a glint of clarity on how the U.S. wants to remould its relations with Europe. "Nothing has been determined," Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to the alliance, said last week. Talks will come after the late June conference, Whitaker said. Soldiers in northern Finland say the U.S. was neither involved in these live-fire drills nor provided any capability to support the exercises. They say an American absence had nothing to do with the current political climate but stressed U.S. soldiers have been training alongside other NATO forces in recent months. Finnish conscripts stand by a Soviet-era D-30 howitzer at Rovajärvi training area, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Finnish conscripts stand by a Soviet-era D-30 howitzer at Rovajärvi training area, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Ellie Cook While the Kremlin's land forces are bogged down in the vicious frontline fighting in Ukraine, recent satellite imagery has indicated Russia is building out its bases close to the Finnish border. The construction appears to be part of a longer-looking effort to expand Russian military facilities in spitting distance of NATO, The New York Times reported earlier this week. Officials in NATO countries forming the alliance's easternmost flank have long speculated that if a ceasefire deal brings an end to the war in Ukraine, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers deployed to battle Ukrainian defenses could wind up close to NATO territory. The Russian military "will have a lot of free force, which will be probably brought to our neighborhood," Estonia's defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, told Newsweek back in November. Estonia sits just south of Finland. Helsinki started construction on a fence running along more than 120 miles of border with Russia in February 2023. Work is expected to take up to four years, according to the Finnish border guard. Swedish soldiers stand by a Swedish-made Archer 155mm self-propelled howitzer in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Swedish soldiers stand by a Swedish-made Archer 155mm self-propelled howitzer in Rovajärvi, northern Finland, on May 21, 2025. Ellie Cook Soldiers milling around the exercises said the Finns, more than the Brits or even the Swedes, felt Russia breathing down their necks. "The whole world is worried," one soldier remarked while standing next to a 155mm Archer howitzer, capable of firing at targets about 50 kilometers away. Yet another commented: "You can't think about it all the time, because then you'll be exhausted." Some say they are more than accustomed to the threat Moscow poses in the north. Russia has "been always there," said Lieutenant Colonel Kimmo Ruotsalainen, the commander of an artillery regiment in Finland's Kainuu Brigade, which led the drills. "The Finns are used to living next door to Russia, so everything is focused on how they're going to defend Finland from Russia," English said. Finland dedicated less than 1.5 percent of its GDP to the military five years ago. Last month, the government in Helsinki announced Finland would funnel at least 3 percent into defense within the next four years. "By this decision we will answer to the current security situation in Europe and the military threat posed by Russia," the country's defense minister, Antti Häkkänen, said in a statement at the time.
