Russia State TV Warns About New NATO Member's 'Serious Military Force'

• Finland joined NATO this week, a major setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said one of the Ukraine war's objectives is to prevent expansion of the military alliance on Russia's borders.
• Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military expert, cautioned that Moscow should be more concerned about the Finnish military than the potential of the U.S. to place nuclear weapons in the country.
• Korotchenko also warned of the threat of Finnish intelligence agencies and the arrival of American F-35 fighter jets in Finland.

A Russian military expert on Kremlin-operated state TV warned about Finland's recent admittance to NATO, saying the country possesses a "serious military force."

Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the online military publication National Defense, made the statement during a recent episode of the Russian political talk show 60 Minut (60 Minutes), which airs on state-TV channel Russia-1.

On Tuesday, Finland officially became the 31st country to join NATO. Last May, the country submitted a joint application with Sweden to join the alliance in an effort to gain more security following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Sweden's admittance is still being held up over objections from Turkey and Hungary.)

Korotchenko said on 60 Minut that Russia should be more concerned about the Finnish military than the possibility that the U.S. could place nuclear weapons in the country.

"The main problem which we're now going to come up against is the potential not even of the prospective deployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in Finland but the very potential of the Finnish army," Korotchenko said, according to a clip of his appearance translated and shared on Twitter by BBC journalist Francis Scarr.

"With mobilization, they're ready to arm and equip a million men, a million 'bayonets.' That's a serious military force!" Korotchenko said.

Political analysts have said Finland's admission to NATO is a major setback to Putin. The Russian leader has stated that one of his objectives for his war in Ukraine was to prevent the expansion of NATO on Russia's borders. With Finland in the military alliance, NATO more than doubled its shared borders with Russia.

In response to the news of Finland joining NATO, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko said Moscow would take steps to strengthen its military in Russia's western and northwestern regions.

"In the event that the forces and resources of other NATO members are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to reliably ensure Russia's military security," Grushko said on Monday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

His remarks came after Russia recently announced it would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares borders with NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Asked about Russia's recent moves regarding nuclear weapons during a Monday press conference, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg downplayed the threat.

"So far, we haven't seen any changes in their nuclear posture that requires any change, changing our nuclear posture," Stoltenberg said. "We cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security."

During his appearance on 60 Minut, which is hosted by the well-known propagandist Olga Skabeyeva, Korotchenko spoke of the importance of Russia using deterrence as a security measure.

According to Scarr's translation, he said that "without betting on deterrence, including by relying on Russian tactical nuclear weapons, we of course won't be able to neutralize threats just by strengthening our air defense units or forming a new army corps."

"Finland is a first-class country from the point of view of its airfield network, and what's more, they've procured large batches of American fifth-generation F-35 [jet] fighters, which have now started to arrive," Korotchenko continued. "They are also capable of carrying American tactical nuclear weapons."

The Russian military expert also warned about Finland's intelligence agencies, alleging that Finnish intelligence officials had recently been trying to gain information from Russian citizens about plans for the war in Ukraine.

"Therefore, the [Russia's federal security agency] FSB's active work concerning the Finnish Embassy and Finish defense attaché's office is now as much of a priority as countering the activities of British and U.S. intelligence agencies," Korotchenko said.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian and Finnish ministries of foreign affairs for comment.