The Russian army is actively expanding military bases in Petrozavodsk and other areas near the border with Finland, as well as deploying additional troops to the borders with European countries, writes The Wall Street Journal citing sources, satellite images, and assessments from Western intelligence. Military experts interviewed by the publication assessed the activity along the Finnish border as part of Moscow's preparation for a potential conflict with NATO.
According to WSJ, a new army command post is being created 160 km from Finland, in Petrozavodsk, with warehouses and barracks for military personnel actively being built, and a new railway being laid along the border with Estonia, Finland, and Norway, expanding existing routes. Journalists claim that Russia is preparing to increase the number of troops to 1.5 million people. Small brigades will triple and become divisions with 10,000 people, writes WSJ citing Western officials. New units will be equipped with modern equipment, while mainly restored Soviet models are sent to the front in Ukraine.
According to Western intelligence estimates, if in 2021 Russia produced about 40 T-90M tanks, now about 300 such tanks are produced each year. Almost all these tanks remain in Russia and are not sent to the front, a senior military official from Finland told the publication. The production of drones has also increased. Additionally, the production of artillery guns and ammunition is expected to increase by about 20%, the newspaper adds.
The expansion of military presence is occurring against the backdrop of an increase in Russia's defense budget to more than 7% of GDP. European experts consider this preparation for a potential conflict with NATO in the next 5-10 years.
"When the troops return [from Ukraine], they will be looking across the border [with Finland] at a country they consider an adversary. The logic of the last decade shows that we expect a conflict with NATO," said Russian military analyst, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov to the publication.
Another interlocutor of WSJ in one of the European intelligence agencies suggested that Russia might try to test NATO's cohesion by invading a small alliance country, such as Estonia, where a large number of ethnic Russians live.
Photo: TASS