Media: Russian ships sailed into Lake Ladoga. “They have Finland in their sights”

“Russia, as part of strategic naval maneuvers in the Baltic and Pacific, has introduced missile corvettes to Lake Ladoga – for the first time in history. This is Russia's response to Finland's accession to NATO,” comment Finnish media.

The Grad and Naro-Fominsk corvettes of the Buyan M class, approximately 74 meters long, are – according to Russian reports – equipped with Kalibr long-range cruise missiles, used in Syria and on Ukraine“With such equipment on Lake Ladoga, Russia will have Finland in its sights,” the Finnish daily “Ilta-Sanomat” wrote on Thursday.

The Barents Observer, a Norwegian newspaper that publishes news about the Barents region, reports that the corvettes, which entered Ladoga via the Neva River from the port of Kronstadt on the Gulf of Finland, have set a course north. They are to reach the Arctic Ocean via Lake Onega and then via the White Sea-Baltic Canal. “This will allow the Russian Navy to operate around the entire Scandinavian Peninsula,” it reports.

The Russian Navy began the Ocean-2024 strategic exercises on Tuesday in various parts of the world, including the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Caspian Sea. According to the Defense Ministry Russia More than 400 ships, including submarines, and more than 120 planes and helicopters, as well as more than 90,000 soldiers, are taking part in the exercise. The exercise is to last until Monday.

Lake Ladoga, located to the east of Finland and north of St. Petersburg, is the largest lake in Europe.

“It is not only the Russians who know that smaller ships or even submarines can operate in this water,” the news portal “Verkkouutiset” pointed out.

“Finland had its own Ladoga Fleet as early as 1919, when part of the lake was within its borders. Then, during World War II, Finland operated with Germany and Italy as part of a joint force during the invasion of the USSR. Battles with Soviet ships were fought using artillery barges and torpedo boats,” it was noted.