athenasius
Well-Known Member
Here is the Estonian news source that broke the news. It is not being carried much in the West but it should be. From Russia's point of view this is a NATO declaration of war.
The Gulf of Finland is a small gulf off the Baltic Sea between Estonia and Finland. The top of the Gulf is Russia-- St Petersburg with it's naval port.
https://news.err.ee/1608683440/minister-estonia-finland-to-integrate-coastal-missile-defense-systems
the article says this, and I've bolded the bits of interest.
"Finland and Estonia will integrate their coastal missile defense which would allow the countries to close the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships if necessary, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) told Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.
"We need to integrate our coastal defenses. The flight range of Estonian and Finnish missiles is greater than the width of the Gulf of Finland. This means that we can connect our missile defenses and share all our information with each other," Pevkur (Reform) said in an interview during a working visit to Finland.
Estonia will buy Israeli Blue Spear land-to-sea missiles this autumn, which have a range of 290 kilometers. Finland's MTO 85M missiles have a range of over 100 kilometers.
At the Gulf of Finland's narrowest point, there are 45 kilometers of sea between the two countries and 120km at its widest.
Pevkur said the integration of missile defense systems will make it possible to close the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships.
"The Baltic Sea will be NATO's internal sea when Finland and Sweden have joined NATO. Compared with what it is today, the situation is changing," he said.
The minister also discussed securing airspace. It has been agreed upon by NATO that the Allies will secure the whole Baltic Sea region.
"For me, this is one airspace. Everyone must understand that Norway, Finland, the Baltics and other countries form NATO's eastern flank. We are not only protecting Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or other eastern NATO countries. When we talk about NATO, the most important thing is Article 5: one for all and all for one," he said
"Finnish airspace cannot be protected if Estonian airspace is not protected at the same time, and vice versa. Fighter jets cross the 80-kilometer-wide Gulf of Finland in minutes."
Iltaleht asked if the Americans will send F-35 fighter jets to Estonia and Pevkur said the discussions about the size of the U.S.'s presence is currently being discussed.
The Estonian and Finnish defense ministers met earlier this week in Helsinki."
I got this article from the Express: https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...ia-finland-baltic-sea-gulf-of-finland-ukraine which I will excerpt small amounts with bolding added. Of note are the maps which show the strategic importance of the gulf of Finland.
"Both the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland are highly important for Russians symbolically and strategically significant for Russians and are regarded as being firmly within the superpower’s territory.
Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet is inaccessible via sea from its naval headquarters in St Petersburg without access to the Gulf, meaning it could only do so from Kaliningrad, Russia’s tiny outpost sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania"
"Most military analysts see the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland as a huge potential flashpoint between Russia and the West, with both NATO and the US holding frequent naval drills there"
"Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet is mostly based in Kaliningrad, but its Navy has its headquarters Admiralty in St Petersburg."
Why Kaliningrad is important right now, is because another Baltic nation Lithuania plus Poland surround it. There is no direct link of land between it and Russia. It is the only other port and the Baltic sea Fleet is based there.
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia became NATO members in 2004. Poland has been part of NATO since 1999. Sweden and Finland are in the process of being admitted to NATO with Turkey holding up the process.
Once that happens, Russia's western fleet is surrounded. Getting back to Lithuania, they blocked Russian rail traffic thru their territory in July of '22. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/lithuania-expands-restrictions-kaliningrad-trade-2022-07-11/ which upset Russia. and within 2 days lifted the block https://www.reuters.com/world/lithu...d-russian-goods-trade-kaliningrad-2022-07-13/
Russian Naval access to the west is becoming very limited. It's a choke point. Now BOTH access points are vulnerable to NATO.
Western media seems to be ignoring this but it's important news. It's not helping Putin keep his cool that's for sure. The Russian and Chinese media that I looked at are screaming about NATO plots so their own point of view on this is unlikely to be calm.
Why this seems important to me is in relation to the developing armed alliance of NATO in Western Europe and Russia plus it's allies growing closer together. Western Europe is always something to watch as it's a strong contender for the Revived Roman Empire, while Russia, Iran and Turkey are the major players of Ezekiel 38 & 39.
Turkey is assisting Russia in blocking the entrance of Finland to NATO.
Finland hasn't said much that I could dig up on this. Probably trying to avoid trouble.
The Gulf of Finland is a small gulf off the Baltic Sea between Estonia and Finland. The top of the Gulf is Russia-- St Petersburg with it's naval port.
https://news.err.ee/1608683440/minister-estonia-finland-to-integrate-coastal-missile-defense-systems
the article says this, and I've bolded the bits of interest.
"Finland and Estonia will integrate their coastal missile defense which would allow the countries to close the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships if necessary, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) told Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.
"We need to integrate our coastal defenses. The flight range of Estonian and Finnish missiles is greater than the width of the Gulf of Finland. This means that we can connect our missile defenses and share all our information with each other," Pevkur (Reform) said in an interview during a working visit to Finland.
Estonia will buy Israeli Blue Spear land-to-sea missiles this autumn, which have a range of 290 kilometers. Finland's MTO 85M missiles have a range of over 100 kilometers.
At the Gulf of Finland's narrowest point, there are 45 kilometers of sea between the two countries and 120km at its widest.
Pevkur said the integration of missile defense systems will make it possible to close the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships.
"The Baltic Sea will be NATO's internal sea when Finland and Sweden have joined NATO. Compared with what it is today, the situation is changing," he said.
The minister also discussed securing airspace. It has been agreed upon by NATO that the Allies will secure the whole Baltic Sea region.
"For me, this is one airspace. Everyone must understand that Norway, Finland, the Baltics and other countries form NATO's eastern flank. We are not only protecting Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or other eastern NATO countries. When we talk about NATO, the most important thing is Article 5: one for all and all for one," he said
"Finnish airspace cannot be protected if Estonian airspace is not protected at the same time, and vice versa. Fighter jets cross the 80-kilometer-wide Gulf of Finland in minutes."
Iltaleht asked if the Americans will send F-35 fighter jets to Estonia and Pevkur said the discussions about the size of the U.S.'s presence is currently being discussed.
The Estonian and Finnish defense ministers met earlier this week in Helsinki."
I got this article from the Express: https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...ia-finland-baltic-sea-gulf-of-finland-ukraine which I will excerpt small amounts with bolding added. Of note are the maps which show the strategic importance of the gulf of Finland.
"Both the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland are highly important for Russians symbolically and strategically significant for Russians and are regarded as being firmly within the superpower’s territory.
Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet is inaccessible via sea from its naval headquarters in St Petersburg without access to the Gulf, meaning it could only do so from Kaliningrad, Russia’s tiny outpost sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania"
"Most military analysts see the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland as a huge potential flashpoint between Russia and the West, with both NATO and the US holding frequent naval drills there"
"Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet is mostly based in Kaliningrad, but its Navy has its headquarters Admiralty in St Petersburg."
Why Kaliningrad is important right now, is because another Baltic nation Lithuania plus Poland surround it. There is no direct link of land between it and Russia. It is the only other port and the Baltic sea Fleet is based there.
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia became NATO members in 2004. Poland has been part of NATO since 1999. Sweden and Finland are in the process of being admitted to NATO with Turkey holding up the process.
Once that happens, Russia's western fleet is surrounded. Getting back to Lithuania, they blocked Russian rail traffic thru their territory in July of '22. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/lithuania-expands-restrictions-kaliningrad-trade-2022-07-11/ which upset Russia. and within 2 days lifted the block https://www.reuters.com/world/lithu...d-russian-goods-trade-kaliningrad-2022-07-13/
Russian Naval access to the west is becoming very limited. It's a choke point. Now BOTH access points are vulnerable to NATO.
Western media seems to be ignoring this but it's important news. It's not helping Putin keep his cool that's for sure. The Russian and Chinese media that I looked at are screaming about NATO plots so their own point of view on this is unlikely to be calm.
Why this seems important to me is in relation to the developing armed alliance of NATO in Western Europe and Russia plus it's allies growing closer together. Western Europe is always something to watch as it's a strong contender for the Revived Roman Empire, while Russia, Iran and Turkey are the major players of Ezekiel 38 & 39.
Turkey is assisting Russia in blocking the entrance of Finland to NATO.
Finland hasn't said much that I could dig up on this. Probably trying to avoid trouble.