NNA - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Finland and Sweden joining NATO has led to an increase in military threats near the border and that Moscow is taking "adequate countermeasures", Interfax news agency reported on Friday.

RIA news agency quoted Shoigu as saying Russia would respond by forming 12 new units in its western military district.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the Western defence alliance NATO on Wednesday.—Reuters 

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