Russia sent fighter jets armed with nukes to Sweden as part of its intimidation tactics, it has been revealed.
Back on March 2, Putin flew two Sukhoi 24 attack planes and two Sukhoi 27 jets into the Swedish airspace after calls for Sweden to join NATO amid fears that it could be invaded similarly to Ukraine.
According to Swedish channel TV4 Nyheterna, the two Sukhoi 24 planes were armed with nuclear weapons and violated Sweden’s airspace for about a minute before returning to Russia.
As the news channel suggested, the flyover represented a deliberate act with the intention to intimidate Sweden and warn the country of potential consequences should they join NATO.
“This is a signal to Sweden that we have nuclear weapons and we could also consider using them,” Stefan Ring, a military expert, told TV4 Nyheter.
Confirming Russia’s “deliberate” violation of Sweden’s border was also Air Force Chief Carl-Johan Edström who said:
“We assess it as a conscious action. Which is very serious especially as [Russia] is a warring country.
“I cannot rule out incorrect navigation, but everything indicates that it was a deliberate act. That they violated Sweden’s borders.”
He added: “In light of the current situation we are very concerned about the incident. This is unprofessional and irresponsible behavior from the Russian side.”
The warning followed just days after Kremlin issued a chilling threat to Finland and Sweden after they deliberated joining NATO.
“Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries and their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and face some military and political consequences,” Maria Zakharova of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation warned.
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