Norwegian warning: Putin is preparing for war with NATO

Russia

Norwegian warning: Russia is preparing for war

Nora Fernstedt

Published 00.03

 

A Kalibr missile is test-fired from a Russian submarine during a military exercise in the Sea of ​​Japan in 2021. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry

A Russian rearmament is underway in the Arctic Circle.

That's where Russia is preparing for the next war, warns Norway's defense minister.

And then the target is NATO.

Russia is gathering its nuclear weapons and attack submarines in the Arctic Circle. There, the country is preparing for a war against NATO.

That's what Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik says in an interview with the Telegraph.

- Russia is rearming on the Kola Peninsula... where one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals is located. They (the weapons) are not only aimed at Norway, but also at Great Britain, Canada and the USA, says Sandvik.

Sandvik also says that Vladimir Putin is trying to gain full control over the Arctic, in order to block NATO countries' access to important sea routes in the event of war.

 

Tore Sandvik, Norway's Minister of Defense. Photo: Jonas Fæste Laksekjøn / NTB

- We are NATO's eyes and ears in this area, and we see that they are testing, for example, hypersonic missiles, nuclear-powered torpedoes and nuclear warheads, says Sandvik.

Purchased technology from the West - in secret

The Kola Peninsula is a base for Russia's important Northern Fleet. It is currently used, according to Sandvik, to test new weapons and strengthen Russia's nuclear weapons capacity.

Even before the latest rearmament, the fleet had at least 16 nuclear submarines and a hypersonic missile that can travel at eight times the speed of sound.

– Even though Putin is losing heavily in Ukraine – he has lost a million soldiers – the Northern Fleet is intact. And they are developing it, he says.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Alexander Kazakov / AP

According to him, one of the biggest Russian threats right now is their attack submarines – and that is something NATO monitors 24/7.

At the same time, it is high-tech technical equipment from Western countries that helps Putin protect his strong fleet.

Recently, the Washington Post revealed that Russia has secretly used shell companies to buy technology from both Europe and the United States and build a kind of “surveillance system” over the Barents Sea and other Arctic waters.

By stealth, Russia has been able to buy, among other things, an underwater drone that can operate at a depth of 3,000 meters, sonar systems and underwater antennas.

 

A Russian nuclear submarine during a military exercise in the Arctic in 2021. Photo: AP

Something that could be used to detect, for example, American submarines – and make it more difficult for Western countries to detect Russian attack submarines.

“Not interested in peace”

If the war in Ukraine ends, the Arctic Circle will probably be the next important area, since it is likely that Putin will mobilize soldiers to the Finnish border, says Sandvik.

– Putin is not interested in peace. Even if we get a peace agreement in Ukraine, with soldiers in place and a stable situation, one analysis is that he will mobilize millions of soldiers near the Finnish border, says Sandvik.