Russia’s Izvestia newspaper is reporting Monday that “NATO launches major military exercise along Russia’s border” – in reference to new major drills kicking off in Finland, also involving the militaries of Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The exercises are dubbed Northern Strike 125 and Northern Star 25 and involve some 7,000 total personnel and aim to develop military cooperation in the northern Scandinavian region among NATO allies. They are set to last until May 31, and Moscow sees them as a provocation given that Finland shares a lengthy border with Russia.
Finland only became a NATO country in April 2023, largely as a direct result of the Ukraine war, and is the 31st member of the Western military alliance.
Izvestia has detailed that attack helicopters are in use, as well as drones in the north of Finland. The British contingent has deployed AH-64E Apache combat helicopters, and brought a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) battery.
“This exercise complex is a logical continuation of previous years’ exercises to develop capabilities together with our allies,” Finnish Army Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Vuorisalmi, who is overseeing the exercise, said.
Finnish media has described the annual exercises in the context Russia’s ‘threat’ to the