Finland, Sweden offer NATO an edge as rivalry warms up north
The first surprise, for the Finnish conscripts and officers taking part in a NATO-hosted military exercise in the Arctic this spring: the sudden roar of a US Marine helicopter assault force, touching down in a field right next to the Finns’ well-hidden command post, Associated Press reported.
The second surprise: Spilling out of their field headquarters, the Finnish Signal Corps communications workers and others inside routed the US Marines — the Finns’ designated adversary in the NATO exercise and members of America’s professional and premier expeditionary force — in the mock firefight that followed.
Finnish camouflage for the Arctic snow, scrub and scree likely had kept the Americans from even realizing the command post was there when they landed, Finnish commander Lt. Col. Mikko Kuoka suspected. “For those who years from now will doubt it,” Kuoka, modestly stunned by the outcome of the random skirmish, wrote in an infantry-focused blog recording the outcome, of an episode he later confirmed for The Associated Press. “That actually happened.” As the exercise made clear, NATO’s addition of Finland and Sweden — what President Joe Biden calls “our allies of the high north” — would bring military and territorial advantages to the Western defense alliance. That’s especially so as the rapid melting of the Arctic from climate change awakens strategic rivalries at the top of the world.
In contrast to the NATO expansion of former Soviet states that needed big boosts in the decades after the Cold War, the alliance would be bringing in two sophisticated militaries and, in Finland’s case, a country with a remarkable tradition of national defense. Both Finland and Sweden are in a region on one of Europe’s front lines and meeting places with Russia.
Finland, defending against Soviet Russia’s invasion on the eve of World War II, relied on fighters on snowshoes and skis, expert snow and forest camouflage, and reindeers transporting weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, along with his pointed reminder about the Kremlin’s nuclear arsenal and his repeated invocation of broad territorial claims stemming from the days of the Russian Empire, have galvanized current NATO nations into strengthening their collective defenses and bringing on board new members, according to Associated Press.
Finland — until 1917 a grand duchy in that empire — and Sweden abandoned longtime national policies of military nonalignment. They applied to come under NATO’s nuclear and conventional umbrella and join what is now 30 other member states in a powerful mutual defense pact, stipulating that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
Putin justified his invasion of West-looking Ukraine as pushing back against NATO and the West as, he said, they encroached ever closer on Russia. A NATO that includes Finland and Sweden would come as an ultimate rebuke for Putin’s war, empowering the defensive alliance in a strategically important region, surrounding Russia in the Baltic Sea and Arctic Ocean, and crowding NATO up against Russia’s western border for more than 800 additional miles (1,300 kilometers).
“I spent four years, my term, trying to persuade Sweden and Finland to join NATO,” former NATO secretary-general Lord George Robertson said this summer. “Vladimir Putin managed it in four weeks.”
Biden has been part of bipartisan U.S. and international cheerleading for the two countries’ candidacies. Reservations expressed by Turkey and Hungary keep NATO approval from being a lock.
Russia in recent years has been “rearming up in the north, with advanced nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles and multiple bases,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this month. “Russia’s threats, and Russia’s military build-up, mean that NATO is strengthening its presence in the north.′
Finland and Sweden would bring a lot to that mix. But they’re not without flaws, Associated Press reported.
Both countries downsized their militaries, cut defense funding and closed bases after the collapse of the Soviet Union lulled Cold War-era fears. As of just five years ago, Sweden’s entire tiny national defense force could fit into one of of Stockholm’s soccer stadiums, a critic noted.
Ukraine war: Drone attack targets Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea
Russian forces in Crimea have been targeted by a fresh drone strike, BBC reported.
The Russian-appointed regional leader said a Ukrainian drone targeting Russia's Black Sea fleet in the city of Sevastopol was shot down on Saturday.
It follows a string of attacks on Russian forces and installations in the annexed peninsula this month.
Meanwhile Ukraine's president has welcomed a deal allowing UN inspectors to visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, further north.
Early on Saturday a video showed smoke rising from the area in Sevastopol where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based. The BBC News has not been able to independently verify the footage. The Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, played down the seriousness of the incident.
He said the fleet's air defences had been activated and the Ukrainian drone destroyed. "It fell on the roof of the headquarters," he said. "There was no significant damage and no-one was hurt."
Later on Saturday, Mr Razvozhayev said anti-aircraft systems had again been in operation in Sevastopol, but gave no details.
Earlier in the month nine Russian jets were destroyed in an attack on the Russian military base at Saky, on Crimea's western coast, according to BBC.
Footage on social media at the time showed crowds of Russian tourists fleeing a nearby resort.
Crimea was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014, and Ukraine has vowed to retake it.
Moscow has blamed sabotage for some of them, indicating some kind of special military operation perhaps by Ukrainian forces - or those loyal to Kyiv.
Western officials say these incidents are having a major operational and psychological impact on Russian forces.
In another other development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant could start to be restored with a visit of international inspectors.
He was speaking after Russia's Vladimir Putin said Moscow would grant UN inspectors access to the facility, north of Crimea.
The Kremlin and Kyiv have blamed each other for shelling the plant over the past week, raising fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
And the Russian-installed mayor of Mariupol reportedly survived an assassination attempt.
A Russian state TV reporter said the mayor, Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, was in a car when an explosive device went off at the entrance to the city's zoo.
Also on Saturday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres held a press conference in Turkey after another two grain ships left Ukraine, BBC reported.
He said he had been "deeply moved" watching a ship carrying grain heading to the Horn of Africa and that such deliveries provided "urgently needed relief for those suffering from acute hunger".
The safe passage of the vessels has been enabled through UN-brokered deals with Turkey, Russia and Ukraine last month.
Mr Guterres added that enabling the transport of food and fertiliser from Russia is also critical as the cost of living crisis deepens.
Darya Dugin: Daughter of Putin ally killed in Moscow bomb - report
The daughter of a close ally to Russia's President Vladimir Putin has reportedly been killed near Moscow, BBC reported.
According to local media, Darya Dugin died after her car exploded in flames while she was travelling home.
It is not clear if her father, the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin who is known as "Putin's brain," was the intended target of an attack.
Mr Dugin is a prominent ultra-nationalist ideologue who is believed to be close to the Russian president.
According to Russian media outlet 112, the pair were due to travel back from an event on Saturday evening in the same car before Mr Dugin made a decision to travel separately from his daughter at the last minute.
Unverified footage posted on Telegram appears to show Mr Dugin watching in shock as emergency services arrive at the scene of the burning wreck of a vehicle.
An unnamed law enforcement official confirmed to RIA news agency that a car had caught fire on a highway in the Moscow region's Odintsovo district, but provided no further details.
Despite not holding an official position in government, Ms Dugin's father is a close ally of the Russian president and has even been branded "Putin's Rasputin".
The philosopher's daughter, Darya Dugin, was herself a prominent journalist and commentator who supported the Russian invasion, according to BBC.
Earlier this year, she was sanctioned by UK authorities who accused the 29-year-old of contributing to online "disinformation" in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The ideologue has previously expressed his support for Russian aggression towards Ukraine and was placed under US sanctions in 2015 for his alleged involvement in Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014, BBC reported.
Al-Shabab: Somali forces claim end to deadly 30-hour hotel siege
Somali forces claim to have defeated the militants who stormed a hotel in the capital after a bloody siege, BBC reported.
At least 12 people were killed in the deadly 30-hour ordeal, although local media reports the death toll could be even higher.
The assailants used explosives to gain entry to Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel on Friday before violently taking control and holding guests hostage overnight.
Islamist extremist group al-Shabab has taken responsibility for the attack.
"The security forces have ended the siege now and the gunmen are dead, we've had no incoming gunfire from the building in the past hour," an unnamed official told AFP news agency.
The hotel has been largely destroyed following intense bombardment by security forces throughout Friday night and Saturday, with videos showing explosions and smoke billowing from the building's rooftop. The BBC has not been able to confirm independently whether the attack has ended.A police officer told Reuters that two car bombs had been used to gain access to the hotel on Friday evening - targeting its front barrier and gate.
After the initial attack, a website affiliated to al-Shabab said a group of militants were "carrying out random shootings" after having "forcibly entered" the hotel - described as a popular location for employees of the federal government to meet.
"So far, we have confirmed 12 people, mostly civilians, died," Mohammed, an intelligence officer who gave only one name, told Reuters news agency on Saturday, according to BBC.
Security forces struggled to gain access to the floor for hours because the gunmen, who were holding an unknown number of people hostage, had reportedly bombed out the stairs needed for access as well.
The director of Mogadishu's main trauma hospital told AFP news agency that the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital.
The group controls much of southern and central Somalia, but has been able to extend its influence into areas controlled by the government based in Mogadishu.
In recent weeks, fighters affiliated with the group have also attacked targets along the Somalia-Ethiopia border, which has raised concerns about a possible new strategy by al-Shabab, BBC reported.
The attack on Friday marks the first in the capital by the group since Somalia's new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May.
