Swedes will be 'sent to their deaths' if they join NATO, warns Moscow

Finland and Sweden will become "targets" for Moscow if they join NATO, warned the Russian ambassador in Stockholm.

After their accession, "the total length of the borders between Russia and NATO will almost double",  Ambassador Viktor Tatarintsev said on Tuesday.

"If it still seems to anyone that this will somehow improve Europe's security, rest assured that the new members of the hostile bloc will become a legitimate target for Russian retaliatory measures, including those of a military nature", he added. 

Russia has repeatedly threatened the Nordic pair after they submitted bids to join the western military alliance last May, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.  

Though closely allied with NATO for more than two decades, the two were not formal members of the military alliance, and public opinion was firmly against joining. 

That all changed after Russia invaded Ukraine, when public opinion swung dramatically in favour of joining NATO -- at one point topping 80% in Finland which shares a 1,300km border with Russia -- and nearing two-thirds support in Sweden, according to polls. 

Under NATO rules, a country only becomes a full member when all 30 countries have ratified their applications. 

Finland is now waiting for Turkey to ratify their bid to join NATO, something that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to do. 

Hungary, the only other country to drag its heels, ratified on Wednesday and is expected to drop the instrument of ratification in Washington DC on Friday. 

As for Sweden, its candidacy is still in question. Ankara is currently blocking its entry, while Hungary is delaying ratification. 

Both countries are widely seen as biding their time to extract political concessions from Stockholm, and in the case of