How Putin will react to Finland's NATO entry: possible scenarios

Putin's warnings to Finland not to join NATO were clearly in vain.

Its invasion in Ukraine has led to exactly what Vladimir Putin fears most NATO further enlargement that the alliance is bringing to Russia's threshold.

The BBC security correspondent analyses how Putin can react to Finland's decision.

1. Military Movements

President Putin currently has much work to do in Ukraine to take unexpected steps towards Finland. Russian troops stationed near the 1300km border with Finland have moved south. In time, however, it could probably move troops and missiles near the Finnish border and order the growth of navy patrols and air forces.

2. Hybrid War

Russia has for some time been using hackers and cyberspy attacks aimed at most European countries. It should be expected that these methods will now focus particularly on Finland and Sweden. According to the currently ordinary Russian scenario, any Russian involvement will be officially denied.

3. Subversions

Putin likes to keep in mind long-term goals and may conclude that the historic neutrality of these two Nordic countries means that their decision to join NATO could change. So the Russian president may try to turn the Finnish against NATO with the help of robots on the Internet and false profiles.