Swedish Military Spots ‘Russian Submarine’ Off Stockholm Coast, An Alarming ‘Security Game Changer’

The Swedish minesweeper HMS Kullen and a guard boat are seen in the search for suspected "foreign underwater activity" at Namdo Bay, Stockholm October 21, 2014. Sweden's military is working on two new observations that could be evidence of suspected "foreign underwater activity" near the country's capital, a senior naval officer said on Tuesday. Swedish forces have been scouring the sea off Stockholm since Friday, after what the military called three credible reports of activity by foreign submarines or divers using an underwater vehicle. REUTERS/Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency REUTERS/Fredrik Sandberg/TT Ne

Russia's territorial expansion plans have just reached Sweden. Reports have circulated that the Swedish military spotted a Russian submarine just 31 miles from the Swedish capital. Countries around the Baltic Sea all suddenly roused up and became edgy. Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia's foreign minister, wrote on Twitter that the events in the territorial waters of Sweden "may become a game changer of the security in the whole Baltic Sea region."

Civilian vessels had been ordered by the federal government to stay clear out of the waters of the Stockholm archipelago. A no-fly zone has likewise been implemented as the Swedish military continue to scour from both air and water the mysterious "foreign" submarine which is believed to be of Russia ownership. General Sverker Goeranson, supreme commander of Sweden's armed forces, said he will use "armed force, if necessary" just to bring up to the surface waters the mysterious vessel.

The search for the alleged Russian submarine started on Friday, kicked off when Swedish intelligence authorities reported picking up an emergency radio call in Russian, the English-language Web site The Local reported, citing the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. It was a distress call being sent to Kaliningrad, 330 miles (530 kilometres) south of Stockholm on the Baltic's southern shore, The Local report said.

Swedish military up to now has yet to find any trace of the mysterious vessel. But Goeranson said, whether they find something or not, the most important thing they want to tell the world and to Russia, in particular, is that the country and its military are ready to pounce on illegal entrants because "this kind of activity is violating our borders."

The Russian submarine's alleged incursion into Swedish waters has alarmed the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These three small nations used to be part of the former Soviet republic. Although the Swedes have wondered about the presence of the military vessel in their waters, they believed there are at least three reasons for such.

Johan Wiktorin of the Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences told The Local that the Russians could be mapping the waters to navigate them in the event of hostilities. A second notion was they could be installing equipment or sensors to observe how the Swedish units in that area move. It is also possible the Russians wanted to "reconnoiter our (defense) systems."

The Local likewise reported the presence of the NS Concord, a Russian-owned oil tanker, which had been observed circling in international waters near Stockholm. The ship's movements so far in October was seen in a Twitter post below.