Sweden started sending out five million leaflets to the country’s residents yesterday, urging them to prepare for a possible conflict, as Ukraine faces serious difficulties in the face of Russian troops.

Since the beginning of this war, Stockholm has been calling on the Swedes to prepare, both psychologically and practically, for the possibility of a conflict, since it is very close to Russia. Neighboring Finland, for its part, has set up a website that provides similar advice for its citizens to be prepared.

The two countries abandoned their perennial neutrality and joined NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Swedish booklet, entitled “In Case of Crisis or War,” contains practical advice for dealing with, among other things, natural disasters and cyberattacks. It tells where the nuclear shelters are, what kind of food the residents should choose, and what the sources of reliable information are. 

In its 32 pages, it describes, with the help of simple sketches, the threats facing Sweden and gives advice on storing water and food.

Also read: Sweden | $440 million in aid to Ukraine

Such leaflets have been sent to the Swedes five times (including the current, revised version) since World War II. The previous shipment of leaflets, in 2018, had caused a sensation as it was the first time such a thing had been done since 1961, in the middle of the Cold War.

In March, Sweden’s central bank called on authorities and banking institutions to ease the use of cash, fearing that services would be paralyzed in the event of a crisis or war in a country where transactions are almost exclusively card-based.

Military and economic aid to Kiev is a priority for Sweden, which reiterates that a war cannot be ruled out, given the Russian threat. Warning the population, Civil Protection Minister Karl-Oscar Bohlin said in January that there could be war in Sweden. Michael Biden, the former commander of the armed forces, repeated this statement a few days later, urging the Swedes to psychologically prepare for a war.

Although Sweden often sends its soldiers on peacekeeping missions, the country has not been involved in armed conflict since the Napoleonic Wars. 

In the next two weeks, 5.2 million leaflets will be sent to Swedes, which are also available online in Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian, Polish, Somali, and Finnish. Neither Ukraine nor Russia are mentioned by name in the pamphlet, but it is emphasized that the military threat against Sweden has increased.

Source: AMNA

Also read: Hungary | Parliament ratifies Sweden’s accession to NATO