Russia challenges to northern Europe

NATO members       NATO battlegroups       Zapad exercise 

200km
125 miles

SWEDEN
NORWAY
Stockholm
GOTLAND 
ESTONIA 
DENMARK
GERMANY 
KALININGRAD 
(Russia)
Orzysz
Suwalki Gap
NETHERLANDS  
BELGIUM 
LUX.
SWITZ.
POLAND 
CZECH REP.
AUSTRIA
SVN 
HUNGARY 
CROATIA
UKRAINE 
ITALY
ROMANIA 
BULGARIA 
Donbass region
Crimea
Black Sea
FINLAND
Baltic RUSSIA Sea
LATVIA 
LITHUANIA 
BELARUS
Moscow
SLOVAKIA
MDA
FRANCE

1   2007: Kremlin launches cyber attacks on Estonia
2   2010: Sweden ends conscription
3   Mar 2013: Russia stages mock air strikes against Sweden
4   2014: Russia annexes Crimea, supports separatist war in Ukraine
5-8 Aug 2016 NATO deploys battle groups to Baltic states and Poland
9   Oct: Russia moves nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad
10  Mar 2017: Sweden reintroduces military conscription
11  Apr: NATO deploys brigade to defend strategic Suwalki Gap
12  Sep 2017: Russia’s Zapad war games seen as dress rehearsal for seizing NATO’s Baltic               states
13  Jan 2018: Sweden creates new military regiment to defend Gotland
14 Jun: All 22,000 Swedish volunteer soldiers take part in surprise military exercise
15 Oct 25: NATO’s Trident Juncture military exercise – with 40,000 participants – takes place in Norway


© GRAPHIC NEWS
Sources: Economist, Reuters, Stars and Stripes