TENSIONS FLARE
Russia vows to ramp up forces on Finland border and ‘liberate’ it as EU country joins Nato TODAY
RUSSIA has vowed to ramp up it's forces on the Finnish border to "liberate" the Nordic country, which is set to join Nato today.
The desperate claims come as Finland becomes the 31st member of the military alliance serving a heavy blow to Vladimir Putin as his troops continue to flounder on the battlefields of Ukraine.
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The Kremlin's grim message is in direct response to Finland's historic ascension to The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on Tuesday.
The Nordic nation is the first to join its ranks since North Macedonia joined in 2020 and ends decades of the country's military non-alignment.
The long awaited admission comes after both Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance almost 12 months ago.
It was hampered by a refusal to ratify the application by Hungary and Turkey, both of whom relented last week.
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Finland and Russia share a painful 810 mile border with one another.
The move will roughly double the West's transatlantic frontier facing Moscow.
However, in response, Russia has vowed to "strengthen our military potential in the western and northwestern direction".
Alexander Grushko, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, told state media Nato's expansion called for "additional steps to reliably ensure Russia's military security."
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The mounting pressure from Nato became the main topic of Russia's TV program 60 Minutes and was lambasted by pundits.
Dmitry Abzalov said the situation involving Finland was a "mess" and "already out of our hands".
Olga Skabeyeva, Russia-1 host, went a step further and claimed the Finnish territory as "our historical land" and called for Russia to take action over Finland's looming membership.
She said: "We have to liberate the brotherly Finnish people."
It follows last year's claims that the Kremlin would take "adequate countermeasures" and would send 12 units and divisions to its western military district.
Despite the hostile warning, Finland is expected to join the alliance today - which has been hailed by the Nato chief.
Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of Nato, said it would make Finland safer and the collective alliance stronger.
Stoltenberg said: "We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters.
"It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for Nato as a whole."
Finland will become the sixth Nato nation to share a border with Russia, joining Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland.
The Finnish contribution will add more than 257,000 troops to the combined forces.
However, Turkey continues to block the ascension of Sweden to the alliance as talks between the two countries deteriorate.
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Turkey's president Erdogan claims the country has not sufficiently sought to crackdown on Kurdish militant groups that his country recognises as terrorists.
All NATO members must unanimously agree before a country joins the block.
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