April 6th 2022: 4:15 GMT
Reporter: Katie Knopp: London, United Kingdom
At around 4 A.M GMT, a series of missile and rocket attacks hit Arna Air Base, which is about 52 miles north of Stockholm, Sweden; the Swedish Ministry of Defense announced. The attacks have been confirmed by the Swedish military to have originated in the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, and from Russian ships and submarines based in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish Ministry of Defense said the attacks came swiftly and that the base had little time to react. Casualties and damage are unknown but the Swedish Ministry of Defense said damage and casualties are “substantial”. The Defense Ministry also announced that the attack has limited the response capabilities of the Royal Swedish Air Force. Some locals who live near the base were able to capture some pictures on their smartphones of what seems to be missile attacks hitting the base.
Around the same time this morning a series of cyber attacks hit Sweden, especially the capital of Stockholm causing massive internet and communication outages. Multiple government, financial, and corporate websites are offline.
There are also several unconfrimed reports that Russian special forces have taken Stockholm Arlanda International Airport in Stockholm. The reports say Russian Special Forces emerged off of a commercial flight into Stockholm from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and that the special forces moved incredibly quickly and have secured the air port communications tower and are currently preventing flights from landing. The reports say the the soldiers have taken the airport without a shot. Swedish Defense officials refused to make a comment on the situation at the airport.
Lastly the Swedish Ministry of Defense has said the Swedish Prime Minister and the Royal Family have been moved to a safe location and that Swedish military forces are moving quickly to respond to the situation. NATO Headquarters in Brussels has announced that a Russian attack on Sweden seems to be underway.
In Washington the Pentagon said they are monitoring the situation very closely and that President Biden is in the Situation Room right now following events and currently speaking with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the situation. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said “It seems Russia has decided to expand the war beyond Ukraine and it seems the Russians are not so much bent on territorial expansion as they are about preventing neutral European countries from joining NATO and the EU.” Officials in the Kremlin have not responded to the reports yet