Finland is hosting the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2022. After Corona restrictions, it should be a “normal” World Cup again, where the best ice hockey players in the world from the National Hockey League (NHL) will also be on display. But before the World Cup, the land of a thousand lakes announced that it would like to join NATO. Neighboring Russia doesn’t like that at all. The Russians were excluded from the World Cup just like Belarus because of the war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia doesn’t like the Finnish plans to join NATO at all. The Russians are trying to intimidate Finland (as well as Sweden, who also want to join). A video recently appeared online that is to be understood as a clear threat. In the said video you can see the low loader. According to military experts, this low-loader is transporting a launch pad for anti-ship missiles towards the Finnish border.
So could there be Russian cyber attacks at the World Cup in Finland? Or is something even worse imminent? May 17th and 18th is particularly interesting. Austria meets the Czech Republic. But far more exciting is the fact that the Finnish President is receiving a visit from Sweden. On this occasion it is to be announced that one wishes to officially join NATO.
The Russian side says: “Don’t do that. This move would have serious political and military consequences,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharovava said. Is the carefree hockey climate falling victim to Russian aggression? How far will Russia go? These are all questions that are asked on the Finnish side. NATO expert Iro Särkkäov told the Finnish newspaper “Ilta-Sanomat”: “Finland can indeed become a victim of a cyber attack. Cyber expert Jarno Limnéll further explained: “Cyber threats can take many forms. For example, it may be a malfunction of various electronic services. The development of modern technologies offers a variety of ways to achieve this. For example, it could be fake videos of politicians that could be used to undermine their credibility.”
The organizers of the Ice Hockey World Championship have to prepare for a possible attack. Politicians in Russia are known to attend ice hockey games of the “Sbornaja”, as the Russian national team has always been called, with great emotion. Russia won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. President Vladimir Putin was the first to wish well. But this time Russia is excluded from the World Cup. Finland may therefore need to prepare for revenge.
