Russia issues “last warning” to four NATO states over “bogus” accusations that they are allowing Ukraine drone access with fears that it could be a pretext for war in the Baltic
08:21, 17 Apr 2026Updated 08:42, 17 Apr 2026
Fears are growing that Putin could be planning military action in the Baltic(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Fears are mounting that Russia is paving the way for military action in the Baltic that could trigger a war.
The Kremlin has issued a “last warning” to four NATO states it accuses of allowing Ukrainian drones to overfly their territory to strike key oil port targets near St Petersburg.
The secretary of Vladimir Putin’s security council Sergei Shoigu warned of Russia’s “inherent right” to self defence, implying Moscow could launch military strikes against Finland, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.
Shoigu warned of Russia’s “inherent right” to self defence(Image: Tass; e2w news)
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All four states have vigorously denied giving permission to Ukraine to use their airspace – yet Russia keeps repeating the “bogus” accusation and could use it as a pretext to attack these states which are all covered by NATO’s article 5 collective defence umbrella.
The warning from army general Shoigu – the man who as then defence minister led Russia’s invasion off Ukraine in 2022 – was coordinated with Putin, say sources in Moscow.
It comes as Russia issued warnings to Finland about permitting nuclear weapons on its territory, and Western fears that Putin could be planning to grab one of four Baltic Sea islands belonging to Estonia, Sweden or Denmark in a test of NATO’s unity and ability to respond to blatant aggression.
And the Russian defence ministry’s so-called Doomsday Radio – seen as linked to the country’s nuclear forces – posted the sinister coded message “MEAT GRINDER”.
The warning from Shoigu is claimed to have been coordinated with Putin(Image: Kremlin/EAST2WEST NEWS)
Voicing the Kremlin trope, Shoigu alleged: “Recently, there have been increasingly frequent cases of attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russia via Finland and the Baltic states. As a result, civilians suffer and significant damage is caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either western air defences were “highly ineffective….. or the states in question are deliberately providing their airspace, that is, acting as direct accomplices in aggression against Russia”.
He insisted: “In the latter case, in accordance with international law, Article 51 of the UN Charter on the inherent right of states to self-defence in the event of an armed assault comes into force.”
Specifying Ukrainian strikes crippling the oil ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, another close Putin aide Nikolai Patrushev – a former FSB security service chief – accused NATO states of being “complicit in these crimes”.
Hardline MP Andrei Kolesnik said Shoigu was issuing a “final” warning, with Putin’s authority, and the Baltic states should not make the “mistake” of acting with “impunity” against Russia.
Another member of the Russian parliament’s defence committee Lt-Gen Viktor Sobolev warned: “If drones fly from their airspace to our territory, they may receive the same strike from our side in response. We will shoot down these drones over the territory of these countries, and where they will fall is another matter.”
At the same time, Sweden’s chief of defence Michael Claesson has warned Russia is scheming to occupy an island belonging to a Western state in the Baltic Sea in a test for NATO.
Among the larger islands that could be threatened are Sweden’s Gotland, Denmark’s Bornholm or Estonia’s Hiiumaa and Saaremaa. Military strikes on a NATO state or the invasion of a Baltic island could trigger the alliance’s mutual defence pact – and signal the star of a Third World War.
Russia stoked more tension with its ambassador in Helsinki, Pavel Kuznetsov, warning: “The Finnish region of Lapland, home of Santa Claus, is being transformed into a training area for NATO units for combat in Arctic latitudes, a practice that has already raised legitimate concerns among local residents.”
He said that the first of 64 US-made F-35A multirole fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons will enter Finland’s arsenal this year. And he warned of war games involving “provocative scenarios for an armed conflict with Russia”.
The country was becoming “a stronghold of NATO-Russia confrontation”, he claimed, and new laws permitting nuclear weapons to be placed in Finland were being watched closely by the Putin regime.
“One does not need to be a military expert to understand that the presence of nuclear weapons on Finnish territory – or even the theoretical possibility of their appearance there at any moment – will be fully taken into account in Russian nuclear planning,” he added.