Sweden: Make plans to bunker down in case of war

Civil defence chief tells the public to buy torches, batteries, candles and sleeping bags

Swedish army medics simulate an operation at a field hospital during military exercises last year. Reuters

Sweden has told its citizens to be ready to live off-grid for a week in case of a military attack.

Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities is a warning of what could happen, Sweden's new civil defence chief said.

It comes with Sweden toughening its security stance and seeking to join Nato in light of Russia’s aggression.

A new government recently appointed Sweden’s first civil defence minister since 1945, an MP called Carl-Oskar Bohlin.

Mr Bohlin suggested people should buy torches, headlamps, matches, batteries, candles, cans and sleeping bags to prepare for a crisis.

Russia’s “brutal warfare” in Ukraine showed that civilian infrastructure could be targeted and civil defence should be adjusted accordingly, he said.

“Prepare to be able to get by without the help of society for a week, but preferably longer,” Mr Bohlin wrote in an article published on the government’s website.

“If we can handle an armed attack, we will also be able to handle a crisis, such as a natural disaster or power outage.”

Ukraine says millions of people have been left without power by Russian bombardment in recent weeks.

Attempts to rebuild damaged infrastructure have been hampered by continued drone and missile strikes.

Ukraine conflict — in pictures

A building burned from a strike as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut. Reuters

Antonina, a refugee from Bakhmut in Donetsk region, with dogs she rescued in Izyum, Kharkiv. AFP

A resident gives her neighbours hot food brought by volunteers in Izyum. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier salutes as he works to build a bunker with sand in Bakhmut. Reuters

Volodymyr Kovalov, 77, carries tree branches attached to his bike as he collects wood for heating and cooking in Kherson region. AFP

A local resident takes pictures of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A decoy dummy made with the clothes of a Russian soldier at the entrance of a destroyed cinema in Kamyanka, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Destroyed houses in the city of Kamyanka. AFP

Caesar, 50, a Russian who joined the Freedom of Russia Legion to fight on the side of Ukraine, stands in front of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna. AFP

An employee stands next to a shelter at a stainless pipes plant in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region. AFP

Ivan and Iryna Kalinin before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iryna, who was pregnant, was killed in a Russian air strike on Mariupol's maternity hospital. Ivan returned to the occupied city to rebury his wife and baby. AP

Natalia, 67, sits inside her house that was damaged in a Russian military strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk enclave. AP

Smoke billows from a building on fire after a Russian attack in Bakhmut. AP

Sasha and her grandfather stand outside their home in Bakhmut. AP

Ukrainian soldiers set up a barricade in Bakhmut. AP

Nastya carries her cat as her mother Anna says goodbye to neighbours with whom they lived for months in a basement during Russian attacks in Soledar, a city in the Donetsk enclave of Ukraine. AP

Anna and Nastya in the basement during a Russian attack nearby. AP

A Ukrainian soldier is wheeled on a stretcher at a hospital in the Donetsk enclave. AP

A woman looks a building damaged by Russian shelling in Kherson. AFP

Oleksandra Koshkina, 85, sits in a car as she returns to her village of Torske, in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

A resident of Bakhmut walks along an empty street. Reuters

A street market in Bakhmut. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier poses for a picture in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

Officials tend to a patient on a plane carrying Ukrainian Jewish refugees as they wait to disembark at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. AFP

Western officials say Moscow is trying to freeze Ukraine into submission after a series of battlefield setbacks for Russian troops.

Ukraine’s allies have donated equipment including power generators and sleeping bags to help it withstand winter.

They have also put an increasing focus on resilience at home as the threat of armed conflict comes back into view in Europe.

Although many civil defence plans were scrapped after the end of the Cold War, some are now being revived.

Mr Bohlin said he was asking for almost a billion Swedish kronor ($95.6 million) to improve civil defence in Sweden.

But he invited citizens to make it a New Year’s resolution to strengthen their own preparedness at home.

Germany’s interior minister recently announced plans to hold a nationwide “day of civil defence” in 2023.