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Sweden puts troops on alert after detecting possible foreign threat

Swedish media reported transmissions on an emergency frequency coming from waters of the Stockholm Archipelago to a reciever in Kaliningrad, Russia.

By Fred Lambert
A Swedish naval vessel. (Kristian Wiklund/ CC)
A Swedish naval vessel. (Kristian Wiklund/ CC)

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Sweden deployed troops and put its military on alert over the weekend after detecting a foreign threat in the Baltic Sea.

The Swedish government was made aware of "foreign underwater activity" in the Stockholm Archipelago Friday and deployed approximately 200 troops to search the area on planes and ships.

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On Saturday the Swedish Armed Forced posted this statement to its website:

"At the moment we are conducting an intelligence operation in the archipelago of Stockholm with optical reconnaissance as well as with naval vessels equipped with qualified underwater sensors. The units activated are from all branches of the Swedish Armed Forces, the Navy, the Army and the Air Force.

The operation is conducted in order for the Armed Forces to establish if there are or has been foreign underwater activities in the area. Due to operational reasons the Swedish Armed Forces are prevented to disclose any details surrounding the operation."

Erik Lagersten, spokesman for the Swedish Armed Forces, could not confirm or deny speculations about the threat, including whether it was a missing foreign submarine.

"We are now trying to verify the information we received yesterday, which in our assessment comes from trustworthy sources, and see whether it has any substance or not," Jesper Tengroth, press officer for the Swedish military, told Swedish media on Saturday.

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Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that the National Defence Radio Establishment detected emergency radio transmissions coming from the area to a reciever in Kaliningrad, Russia.

Russia has been criticized earlier this year and last for maneuvering warplanes in restricted airspaces, including in Finland, the United States, Japan, Colombia and Ukraine.

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