Russian former president and vice chairman of the Security Council Medvedev recently made tough remarks about Finland, even mentioning "destroying it," which seems to follow his weekend declaration of "destroying" a previous target.
Medvedev accused Finland of preparing to attack Russia, claiming that after joining NATO, Finland is building a "bridgehead" for war, and that NATO has control over the "five operational domains" of Finland's land, sea, air, space, and cyber space.
He also said: "The Finnish authorities are driven by revenge, building a new 'Mannerheim Line.' They should remember that opposing Russia could lead to the permanent collapse of Finland's national status, and no one will be as lenient with them as in 1944."
This is the first time since the Ukraine conflict began that a Kremlin official has explicitly named a Western country as an "aggressor." Before this, Russian officials' accusations against Europe and NATO were more vague.
At the same time, Russia is strengthening its defense measures along the border with Finland, including building new bases, transporting equipment, and rebuilding the Leningrad Military District. On September 5, Medvedev personally inspected the border area and announced plans for defensive works.
Notably, the current statements from the Kremlin are almost word for word similar to the reasons used before Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine.
Note: The "Mannerheim Line" mentioned above was a large-scale defensive system built by Finland before World War II to resist possible Soviet military attacks on the Finnish-Soviet border (parts of the current Russian-Finnish border), named after its main designer and Finnish military leader Carl Gustaf Mannerheim.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1842702809859272/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.