Military

Part of NATO's Largest Artillery Drills Begins in Finland's Lapland

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Part of NATO's largest artillery drills Lightning Strike 24 begins in Finnish northernmost region of Lapland on November 4 and will last until November 28.
Sputnik
As the Finnish ground forces previously reported, the exercises are part of NATO's Dynamic Front 25 artillery drills, the largest ever held in Europe.
The venue of exercises in Finland is Rowarvi, the largest training ground in Northern Europe in Lapland.
About 3,600 military personnel will take part in the country's territory, of which about 1,200 are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Estonia, France, the Czech Republic and other countries.
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In total, about 5,000 military personnel of 28 different countries will be involved in the Dynamic Front 25 exercises. In addition to Finland, drills will be held in Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselev, stated that the entry of Finland and Sweden in NATO had become a meaningless step from the point of view of these countries' own national interests, and Russian troops and offensive weapons will appear along the borders of Finland after it joins the alliance. Putin explained in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow was not going to attack NATO countries, since this makes no sense. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly intimidated their population with an imaginary Russian threat in order to distract attention from internal problems, but "smart people are well aware that this is a fake."
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