Ukraine may have bombed Russia from Norway or Finland

Published 28 July 2024 at 10.33

Foreign. During Saturday, a nuclear-armed strategic bomber was destroyed when the Russian airbase Olenja – just 40 miles from Sweden – was attacked by Ukrainian drones. One theory could be that the drone was sent up from Norway or Finland, according to an expert speaking in Verdens Gang.

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The airbase is located less than 20 miles from the Finnish border.

– Now we just have to get used to the fact that we have a war at our borders, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Finnish media after the attack.

In the attack destroyed a strategic bomber aircraft of the model Tu-22M3 which is part of Russia's nuclear­fighting forces.

Attacks against the own nuclear­army forces can, according to Russian doctrine, be answered with nuclear war for a long time, and therefore the attack is potentially serious.

– The basic message is that we have no reason to worry in Finland. We have the situation under control and can react. We have been in contact with Sweden's prime minister about the attack and how we will react, says Stubb to Illta Sanomat.

He also urges Ukraine to continue with similar attacks.

– We also have to get used to the fact that Ukraine must use all means to win this war, he says.

In a comment to SVT, Ulf Kristersson's press secretary writes:

“The prime minister shares the Finnish president's basic message that there is no cause for concern. We have war in our immediate area and we follow developments closely”.

“Sweden has close contact with our neighboring countries, not least with Finland regarding the security situation”.

Defence researcher Kristian Åtland believes that the drone could have been sent from Russian territory by Ukrainian operators, or from third countries, which could be Norway or Finland.

– It may very well be that there will be Russian accusations that the drone may have been sent from Norwegian or Finnish territory, but in that case they should have good factual information before making such accusations, he tells VG.

Åtland says this shows how the war is approaching Europe and challenges Russia's sense of security on the Kola Peninsula.