Russia will stay dangerous after Putin, Swedish intelligence says
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin (Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS)
The Russian regime is likely to remain a threat to its
neighbors even after Vladimir Putin leaves power, Swedish military intelligence
chief Thomas Nilsson said, Bloomberg
reported on June 30.
Nilsson said the current security crisis is not a short-term
phenomenon.
“We do not see this crisis as temporary; Russia has chosen
its path, and there is no way back,” Nilsson said.
He said Europe’s security order has entered a prolonged
strategic confrontation that cannot be ignored. Sweden currently sees no
conditions for a rapid change of power or instability inside Russia, since the
political opposition has effectively been eliminated through exile,
imprisonment or killings, intelligence officials said.
Swedish intelligence assesses that no one now appears able
to turn public discontent into a political alternative, while polling indicates
real support among some Russians for the country’s great-power ambitions.
Although Russia’s economy faces serious problems, the regime
continues to maintain stability. Russian officials manipulate statistics to
conceal the real effects of four years of full-scale war on economic growth and
inflation.
Nilsson also pointed to the Kremlin’s long-term military
plans to build infrastructure near NATO’s eastern flank, documented in
satellite images. Russia plans to create larger military structures from
northern Finland southward, but they remain theoretical for now because Moscow
is directing its resources toward the war in Ukraine.
“Our assessment is that as soon as Russia restores the
necessary resources and capability, it will try to implement these plans,” the
Swedish intelligence chief said.
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