The drills will see the participation of to 200 servicemen and about 1,300 conscripts and reservists of the Finnish Defense Forces, with 880 Sweden troops and 80 British personnel taking part in it.

According to its organizers, the goal is to “improve technical and tactical interoperability, as well as improve the ability to host Swedish military forces in northern Finland and organize (Finland’s) support required for these units.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted recently that the architecture of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created for aggression, despite repeated and skewed statements claiming its defensive nature.

For this reason, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Defense to develop a plan to increase response capability and strengthen the military potential on Western borders.

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