Finland Tells Citizens ‘Prepare for War’ – U.K. ‘Ready,’ Putin Threatens US Missile Base

I wrote yesterday that the world was far closer to war than any of us realized or are prepared to admit Today, amidst new threats, hurried meetings, and warnings to citizens, we’re even closer. It would seem that the election has concentrated the minds of all players in the Russian-Ukrainian war such that Ukraine, the U.K. EU, NATO, and the United States all see this as a last stand, while Russia must feel threatened. After all, little else explains why Putin would unleash his most secret and very costly new hypersonic missile. Putin delivered a firm message going forward after launching the missile as reported by the British Sun:

In his televised speech, Putin said Russia had launched a new kind of hypersonic ballistic missile dubbed “Oreshnik” in response to Ukraine’s strikes in Russia’s Kursk region.

The new missile cannot be shot down by any ground-based system (Known) and represents a major escalation. As seen here:

🚨🇷🇺FOOTAGE OF RUSSIA’S NEW HYPERSONIC MISSILE

The ballistic missile, which Putin claimed travels at Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound, was filmed flying over Russia before it struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro yesterday.

Source: @visegrad24 pic.twitter.com/PojsraJVB3

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 22, 2024

And below one can see what the horror looks like from on the ground. Imagine seeing this coming down on your city:

Dnipro, an ordinary city in Ukraine, became the center of another alarming event overnight. Russia reportedly launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, likely the RS-26 "Rubezh," weighing 40-50 tons. This missile is primarily designed to carry nuclear warheads.

The attack… pic.twitter.com/mqLz91Zpng

— Ihor Lachenkov (@igorlachenkov) November 21, 2024

Meanwhile, Putin held a secret middle-of-the-night meeting and sent out a warning to U.S. and U.K. bases, particularly the new American-Polish base in Eastern Europe. From Politico:

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said a United States anti-missile base in Redzikowo, Poland “is a priority target for potential neutralization.”

Per Putin”

 “Russia considers itself entitled to use weapons against military facilities of countries that permit the use of their weapons against Russia.

If you think that the world hasn’t taken notice of the extremely dark turn, you’re like all of us, far too caught up in domestic politics to even notice. From The Sun’s report:

Finland, which borders Russia to its east, has ramped up national security by publishing advice for citizens to prepare “for incidents and crises”.

Nordic citizens were also told to prepare for war and handed chilling survival guides.

And Germany’s World War Three preparation plans were also revealed in a 1,000-page secret document.

We should be paying attention because this all came about quickly within three weeks of the election and it seems as though forces are at work to ensure that the matter is definitely “ongoing” before any new American administration. Time is thus of the essence. And if anything is going to happen it will happen sooner rather than later. All of that is also dependent on the presumption that Donald Trump wants to keep his isolationist tendencies, something that Russia may be counting on and the E.U. may be hoping to make irrelevant by acting fast now.

The United Kingdom pronounced itself ready for war (to quote the Defence Ministry), if only reluctantly, according to The Sun. The U.K. also made a point to say that only Vladimir Putin could pull the world back from the brink.

Russia launched its new missile in response to the U.S. allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike deep inside Russia for the first time. The Ukrainians also used British-made “Storm Shadow” missiles. The strike well beyond the Ukraine-Russian border might well be what is putting Putin back on his feet and feeling vulnerable.

Ukraine used US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing Biden administration on the war's 1,000th day https://t.co/Iuzof9oxSV pic.twitter.com/ldJXKR2zo7

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 19, 2024

It is telling that the U.S. and U.K. allowed Ukraine to use far more aggressive missiles now and they had to do so knowing that Russia would respond, as per usual, with what most would consider an overreaction. It seems obvious that all sides are operating out of fear of the unknown and resolve to settle as much as possible with new aggression now, probably figuring that if they don’t act quickly someone else will. It is possible that Russia is thrown so far on its back that it has to resort to threats of a direct strike on American defenses.

It is all a terrifying mess – obviously. As I noted yesterday, it’s unlikely that anyone wants a new widespread war, though Russia is certainly pushing this closer and closer. And yet we’re in more danger that a war could start by accident or simply circumstances getting wholly out of control. Would Putin attack the new American missile system in Poland right now betting on a weakened lame duck president and a NATO that doesn’t have a certain future? If he was ever going to attack it would seem to be in the near future – or at least provoke. Finland and the Baltic nations seem to be operating on that premise.

I wrote about this yesterday and just a day later we’re actually much closer, not pulling back, to broader war in Europe. It is just chilling. So few know, even fewer want to be in this position. But it would seem that the only way out is for Putin to pull himself back. Which probably explains why we’re closer today than yesterday.

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak and on Blue Sky, a new favorite. 

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