Sweden has started its largest military exercise in over 20 years with nearly 20,000 troops drilling on air, land and sea, including a contingent of over 1,000 U.S. soldiers, amid rising military activity in the Baltic Sea region. Sweden has launched its largest military exercise in 23 years, with several NATO countries taking part.The Aurora 17 drills, set to take place over the course of three weeks, involve a scenario in which Stockholm and the crucial island of Gotland are under attack by a foreign military. The Swedish military said the Aurora 17 exercise was designed “to deter potential attackers, and force them to carefully consider the risks of attacking our country.”

Meanwhile, 25 Swedish and Russian peace activists gathered Saturday on the Finnish archipelago of Aland in the middle of the Baltic Sea to mark their opposition to the Aurora 17 drill. It's an important signal to the Swedish population and also to other countries and partners that we take this security situation seriously," Hultqvist said.It comes after the Swedish Armed Forces wrote in a July statement that "several other countries" had been invited to take part in the drills to enhance "Sweden's defense capability against a larger, sophisticated opponent," in what appeared to be a reference to Russia.Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, commander of US Army forces in Europe, also said in July that "Russia has changed the security environment," adding that the US and its NATO allies "have to react to that," Dagens Nyheter newspaper reported Russia has voiced concern over Sweden joining NATO, with President Vladimir Putin warning in early June that Moscow would be forced to take additional security measures if Stockholm decided to join the alliance. The exercise in Ukraine comes as Russia is gearing up for its major military exercise, Zapad 2017, which is expected to involve tens of thousands of troops operating along NATO's borders in Western Russia, the Russian European enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus.
Sweden starts its largest military exercise in over 20 years. Nearly 20,000 troops are set to participate, including a contingent of over 1,000 U.S. soldiers. The drills will take place on and around the island of Gotland, including soldiers from NATO countries.