MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Sweden increased the alert of its military forces due to the escalating crisis in Ukraine, Reuters reported citing the country's armed forces.
"Given the serious nature of the development in Ukraine, the Swedish military is responding by among other things a higher alert status for the General Staff at headquarters and intensified intelligence gathering," the agency quoted Forsvarsmakten, Sweden’s military authority, as saying in a statement Friday.
A spokesman for the military did not say what Sweden was preparing in case the conflict escalated further.
Sweden already takes part in international drills in Finland, Russia's northern neighbor, and has moved its quick-response fighter jets southward, closer to the Russian border.
Earlier in the day, Sweden’s neighbor, Norway, announced sending 190 servicemen from its strongest Telemark Battalion to Latvian-Russian border for two-month drills in response to NATO’s request to support the allies in light of the growing activity in the Baltics and to protect the region from an alleged threat from Russia.
The move followed Kiev's accusation of Moscow for sending armored troops to the country and opening a new front in Ukraine's east. Earlier this week, NATO released images of what it said was Russian artillery on the Ukrainian territory. Russia denied the allegations.
Since Crimea rejoined Russia in March, NATO has been deploying forces to its closest territories to the Russian border to counter the alleged threat posed by Russia to the former Soviet Baltic republics.
NATO members are scheduled to meet in Wales for the September 4-5 summit to discuss the alliance’s response to Russia, which it accuses of interfering in Ukrainian affairs.
Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the southeastern regions of Ukraine that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government after a February coup.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s military campaign against independence supporters in the east of the country and urged for an immediate stop to what it referred to as “punitive operation,” advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
More than 2,500 people, including the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash, have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since the start of Kiev’s military operation against the militias in eastern Ukraine in mid-April, according to the United Nations.
