World

Prepping for War With Russia on the Ice and Snow

Published

11 months ago

April 12, 2025

Prepping for War With Russia on the Ice and Snow

The Finnish Defense Forces sent out an urgent message: We are being invaded. We need help.

Hundreds of American troops — part of a new Arctic division — boarded planes in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their flight curved over the North Pole and landed at Rovaniemi Airport, in northern Finland. The soldiers quickly unpacked their M-4 assault rifles, rocket tubes and belt-fed machine guns and deployed to the quiet snowbound forests, dressed in Arctic whites and vaporproof boots.

This was all just a drill, launched in mid-February. But the scenario is believed to be increasingly possible. As climate change melts ice across the Arctic, this part of the world, once so remote and forgotten, is becoming more accessible and more contested. The world’s major militaries — American, Russian, Chinese and European — are all training for a winter war.

“It’s really only been the past five or six years that everybody’s moved on from the global war on terror,” said Robert McBride, a Canadian brigadier general helping oversee the war game.

“Arctic nations are starting to understand the strategic importance,” he said. “The Arctic now has come to pre-eminence.”

The recent drill played out at a strange time in global affairs. President Trump has been leaning away from NATO and getting friendly with Russia, and European leaders are seriously discussing how to create their own defense industry should America abandon them, something unthinkable just a few months ago.

But on this frozen ground, at least, American military cooperation and the perception of Russia as a widening threat appeared unchanged.

In Finland, which fought the Soviet Union during World War II, Russia remains the once and future enemy. “There’s an old Finnish saying,” explained Janne Kuusela, a Finnish defense official, “Russia will take what’s not nailed to the wall.”

America’s relationship with Finland, one of NATO’s newest members, seems solid. President Trump recently played golf with its president, Alexander Stubb. Afterward he praised Mr. Stubb’s golf skills and said, “I look forward to strengthening the partnership.”

The two sides worked well together during the battle in the snow. The Finns were nimble attackers, zigzagging through the woods on long, narrow skis. The Americans set up machine guns on small round hilltops and dug foxholes in the snow. Both sides said Arctic warfare was different.

“It’s kind of like operating in space,” said Christopher Brawley, an American colonel.

“No one’s coming to help you,” he said. “And the environment will kill you.”

The cardinal rule is staying dry. Jackson Crites Videman, a Finnish soldier, recounted a grueling test that Finnish soldiers must pass. With all their gear on, including skis, they plunge through an ice hole cut into a river and have to scamper out — without freezing or drowning.

The day he did it was minus 36 degrees Celsius (roughly minus 33 Fahrenheit). He had about two minutes to strip off drenched clothes and change into new ones before frostbite set in. And his hands stopped working.

“Your friends have to help you with the zippers,” he explained.

Mr. Crites Videman, who is half-Finnish, half-American, was drafted into the Finnish military a few months ago. Finland is one of the few Western democracies with mandatory conscription. It’s a country with a small population, 5.6 million, and NATO’s longest border with Russia — 830 miles — and it recently raised defense spending.

Finnish defense experts say that tens of thousands of Russian troops used to be based near that border but were decimated in the Ukraine war. The Finns believe it will take five to 10 years before they become a threat again. Before the Ukraine war, the Finns say, Russia was investing in its Arctic forces, modifying tanks to operate better in the cold and designing new troop transporters.

The United States has been doing the same. In 2022, it designated the 11th Airborne, based in Alaska, as its first and only Arctic division. The division is experimenting with new uniforms and different combat skis.

During the exercise, the Americans showed off a new tracked vehicle that chewed its way up icy slopes, some quite steep. The soldiers lived off special cold weather rations, higher in calories, because of all the energy drained from trying to stay warm.

Warfare during the Arctic summer isn’t much easier. First, there is the issue of the sun. It never sets. So the advantage that night-vision equipment gives Western militaries is eliminated.

When the ice melts, the land turns incredibly mushy. Upper Finland, for example, is covered in thick forests, small mountains, marshes, rivers, lakes and bogs, making it very difficult to navigate. In many ways, it’s easier to move in winter.

During the war game, the attackers exploited the frozen rivers like highways. Soldiers dashed across them, guns strapped to their backs. The commanders seemed pleased with the exercise and especially happy not to talk about politics.

When asked if he were worried about Mr. Trump’s friendliness with Russia, Sami-Antti Takamaa, a Finnish general, said, “It doesn’t worry me at all.”

“The U.S. airborne division just came from Alaska,” he said. “That’s what matters to me.”

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World

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

Published

4 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

From being just a fringe risk, conflict in the Middle East has become a top worry for investors unsettled by the prospect of a power struggle in Iran and a protracted regional war, with ramifications for everything from global trade to inflation.

World

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

Published

5 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.

“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.

Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”

“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”

Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.

As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.

According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.

The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.

TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ

People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.

“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.

“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME

Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.

Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.

“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.

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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.

“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

World

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Published

6 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.

As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.

EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.

Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.

“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”

On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.

“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.

“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”

Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”

“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.

When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”

On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.

Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.

“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.

Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET