In a series of statements released this past Friday, Russia has thrown down threats towards another pair of European nations that state that if they try to join NATO they are looking down the barrel of “serious military and political repercussions” from Russia. This new series of threats crop up just directly after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the official order to his forces to start the invasion of Ukraine.
As part of a press conference, Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, stated, “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.”
Russia just threatened military consequences against Finland and Sweden.
They f***** insane. pic.twitter.com/w4BfHfYYEW— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) February 25, 2022
A portion of her statements that were issued has since been tweeted out by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, writing, “We regard the Finnish government’s commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe.”
The government account then went on to state, “Finland’s accession to @NATO would have serious military and political repercussions.”
💬#Zakharova: We regard the Finnish government’s commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe.
☝️Finland’s accession to @NATO would have serious military and political repercussions. pic.twitter.com/eCY5oG23rL
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 25, 2022
The first wave of the assault against Ukraine sparked off during the wee hours of the morning on Thursday and hit major government and military facilities, airfields, and various installations located along the border, all with massive explosions being seen throughout various clips all over social media. Ukraine has since stated that Belarus, which is seated alongside Putin, assisted Russia in this attack on Ukraine. One senior official with Ukraine stated to The Wall Street Journal that multiple hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers died as part of the initial strikes into Ukraine.
The fighting peaked on Friday evening going into the wee hours of the morning on Saturday as a wave of explosions from missile strikes rocked the night and heralded fighting in the streets which has led Ukraine to urge all of its citizens to take up arms, especially Molotov cocktails, in order to combat the Russian incursion.
“We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities,” Zelensky stated in a release. “We will lift sanctions on all citizens of Ukraine who are ready to defend our country as part of territorial defense with weapons in hands.”
Zelensky has since reportedly refused to go along with any evacuation plans to get himself out of the capital city of Kyiv as groups of Russian fights move into the city and its surrounding areas.
“The U.S. government is prepared to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leave Kyiv to avoid being captured or killed by advancing Russian forces, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials,” reported The Washington Post. “But so far, the president has refused to go.”
One senior intelligence official from America, who has direct knowledge of the talks between U.S. officials and Zelensky when he was asked to evacuate, stated that Zelensky answered: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”