MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Swedish Armed Forces have stepped up search efforts in the waters near the country’s capital after receiving “reliable reports” of foreign underwater activity in the area, chief of operations Jonas Wikstrom said Saturday.
“We consider the information to be very reliable. Therefore, we are increasing the number of units in the area,” Wikstrom told reporters Saturday evening.
“This is intelligence work. We are working to determine whether there is or has been foreign underwater activity in the area,” he stated, noting that the search will continue for “as long as it is needed”.
Answering journalists’ questions of whether the alleged underwater activity could have been carried out by Russian forces, Wikstrom stated that he would “absolutely not speculate” on this matter.
The Swedish Armed Forces first launched a major search mission off the coast of Stockholm on Friday after receiving information, reportedly from a civilian, about underwater activity in the region.
