Russia is stuck in Ukraine but steps up efforts to influence Western countries
Janne Jaakkola (photo: x.com/Finnchod)
Finnish Defense Forces Commander Janne Jaakkola says Russia is bogged down in the war against Ukraine and is increasingly using information warfare and other methods to influence the West.
According to him, there is no direct military threat from Russia. However, he stressed that Finland must not lose sight of Russia's buildup of military capabilities in areas bordering Finland.
"At the same time, we see efforts in our immediate region to build up capabilities, a decision that was already made in 2022. This includes the infrastructure construction that has been widely discussed publicly. Conditions are being created so that troops can be deployed there at some point," the Finnish military commander said.
He added that, based on plans announced by the Russian authorities, Russia intends to triple the strength of its ground forces. Jaakkola stressed that the timeline will depend entirely on how the situation in Ukraine develops.
Other important details
As reported, today Deputy Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said that Russian forces are gradually losing momentum on the battlefield. At the same time, Ukraine's military command is preparing further offensive actions along certain sectors of the front.
Also notable is that this week CIA Director John Ratcliffe unexpectedly visited Moscow. Media reports said he had allegedly warned the Russian side against attacks on NATO.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, European officials are convinced that there is currently no evidence that Russia is preparing a military attack on NATO or Baltic countries.
Incidentally, US President Donald Trump, commenting on the issue, also said that Russia is not going to attack NATO, adding that there was no such threat.
