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https://voennoedelo.com/en/posts/id15079-nato-drills-in-finland-raise-russia-security-concerns

NATO Drills in Finland Raise Russia Security Concerns

Russia’s Envoy Says NATO Drills in Finland Rehearse Conflict Scenarios

NATO Drills in Finland Raise Russia Security Concerns

Russia’s ambassador to Finland says NATO is expanding drills, surveillance flights and military preparations on Finnish territory amid rising security tensions.

2026-04-16T23:42:02+03:00

2026-04-16T23:42:02+03:00

2026-04-16T23:42:02+03:00

According to Pavel Kuznetsov, Russia’s ambassador to Finland, NATO countries are using Finnish territory to rehearse what he described as provocative scenarios of an armed conflict with Russia. He said the scale and frequency of military exercises in Finland were growing, with major NATO formations taking part in drills that included various conflict scenarios involving Russia. Kuznetsov also argued that one of the most serious security challenges for Russia now was the large-scale electronic and aerial reconnaissance that NATO was conducting from Finnish territory. He said alliance reconnaissance aircraft and drones had begun flying regularly along the Russian border. The ambassador also pointed to what he described as a growing atmosphere of military hysteria in Finland. In his view, the country’s population was being frightened by talk of a Russian threat and, in effect, being pushed to prepare for war. He added that the Finnish authorities were actively modernizing bomb shelters, noting that Finland already ranked among the European leaders in the number of such shelters per capita. At the same time, Helsinki was carrying out a program to build additional shooting ranges for the public. Kuznetsov also said the age limit for reservists had been raised to 65 and that their total number was expected to reach 1 million in the coming years.

NATO drills in Finland, Russia Finland tensions, Pavel Kuznetsov, NATO surveillance, Finland military exercises, Russia security concerns, Finnish bomb shelters

2026

William Moore

news

Russia’s Envoy Says NATO Drills in Finland Rehearse Conflict Scenarios

U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Agustin Montanez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

William Moore, Editor

02:42 17-04-2026

Russia’s ambassador to Finland says NATO is expanding drills, surveillance flights and military preparations on Finnish territory amid rising security tensions.

According to Pavel Kuznetsov, Russia’s ambassador to Finland, NATO countries are using Finnish territory to rehearse what he described as provocative scenarios of an armed conflict with Russia.

He said the scale and frequency of military exercises in Finland were growing, with major NATO formations taking part in drills that included various conflict scenarios involving Russia.

Kuznetsov also argued that one of the most serious security challenges for Russia now was the large-scale electronic and aerial reconnaissance that NATO was conducting from Finnish territory. He said alliance reconnaissance aircraft and drones had begun flying regularly along the Russian border.

The ambassador also pointed to what he described as a growing atmosphere of military hysteria in Finland. In his view, the country’s population was being frightened by talk of a Russian threat and, in effect, being pushed to prepare for war.

He added that the Finnish authorities were actively modernizing bomb shelters, noting that Finland already ranked among the European leaders in the number of such shelters per capita. At the same time, Helsinki was carrying out a program to build additional shooting ranges for the public.

Kuznetsov also said the age limit for reservists had been raised to 65 and that their total number was expected to reach 1 million in the coming years.