Russia criticised for mock attack on Sweden

Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, yesterday said he had been in touch with Nato’s secretary general over the training exercise which involved two Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons and two fighter aircraft skirting Sweden’s territorial waters by 24 miles.

“It involved a neutral country but also a country that it our close partner in defence,” said Mr Sikorski. “These incidents cause unnecessary alarm in Europe.”

Mr Sikorski’s accusations also came as Russian and Belarusian forces carried out joint military manoeuvres on Poland’s eastern border, and Moscow announced plans to station air force jets in Belarus.

Russian exercises have rekindled Cold War memories in eastern Europe, but Moscow has pointed out that increasing amounts of Nato military hardware have moved towards Russia’s borders.

The mock attack on Sweden, which occurred on Good Friday, 29 March, has become a source of embarrassment for the Swedish government after it emerged that there were no aircraft ready to intercept because of a holiday.

In the end, two Danish jets, stationed on Nato duty in Lithuania, were scrambled to monitor the Russian flight.

“It is exceptionally serious that Swedish preparedness does not work,” Peter Hultqvist, a Social Democrat MP, who heads Sweden’s parliamentary committee on defence, told the TT news agency. “We should be prepared any day of the year. To carry out a bombing exercise against Swedish targets reminds me of the Cold War.

“This confirms our image that Russia means business when it comes to raising its military capacity.”

In January, General Sverker Goranson, Sweden’s chief of staff, sparked debate by saying his country “wouldn’t last two days,” if Russia attacked.