TASS with more of Lavrov's "cannot lose Ukraine" statement:
Ukraine is the closest fraternal nation for Russia with which it has “common historical, cultural and civilization roots, the same world outlook as well as language and literature, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s NTV television channel.
“We cannot lose Ukraine because it is not confined to a group of persons who committed a state coup and seized power; it is not confined to the Nazis who continue marching in Kiev and other big cities committing acts of vandalism, destroying monuments and glorifying Hitler’s accomplices,” Lavrov said.
“What’s happening in relations between our presidents proves that we are going to find the way out of the crisis anyway and will help the Ukrainian brothers to agree on how they should build and develop their country,” the Russian foreign minister told NTV.
As Sweden boosts its naval presence around Stockholm to detect any "foreign underwater activity" after reports of suspicious activity and the interception of encrypted radio chatter on an emergency channel on Friday, Moscow has responded by saying none of its vessels have been involved in emergency situations in the Baltic Sea.
Swedish media claimed the surprise radio traffic took place between the waters off Stockholm and Kaliningrad, where Russia's Baltic fleet is based.
Interfax and TASS quoted the Russian Foreign Defense Ministry as saying: "Russian Navy ships and submarines are performing their duties in the ocean waters of the world according to plan.... There has been no extraordinary, let alone emergency, situation involving Russian warships."
The international community doesn't appear to be putting much stock in Russia's denial of any secret naval emergency off Stockholm. Here's Lithuania's foreign minister:
Oh, and Linkevicius is not overly impressed with Lavrov's statement on "losing" Ukraine:
Maps are circulating that purport to show the course off Stockholm of a Russian ship that could be the mother ship to a submersible or submarine responsible for the alleged distress dispatch. These have not been verified.
Today's map from the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council:
Slightly extended comments by Swedish Navy Commodore Captain Jonas Wikstrom speaking late yesterday at a news briefing in Stockholm about the decision to increase the Swedish military presence in the Stockholm archipelago in order to search for "foreign underwater activity" in the largest mobilization of ships, troops, and helicopters since the Cold War:
"The intelligence operation that defence forces began yesterday [October 17] has now been lasting for about 24 hours and we still consider the information we received yesterday very credible. As head of operations I have therefore decided to increase the number of units in the area -- units with relevant sensor capability."
"It's important to point out that we are still conducting an intelligence operation. The purpose is to verify whether there is or has been foreign underwater activity."
Here's how it begins:
After completing a detailed analysis, Germany's foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), has concluded that pro-Russian rebels were responsible for the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 on July 19 in eastern Ukraine while on route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
In an Oct. 8 presentation given to members of the parliamentary control committee, the Bundestag body responsible for monitoring the work of German intelligence, BND President Gerhard Schindler provided ample evidence to back up his case, including satellite images and diverse photo evidence. The BND has intelligence indicating that pro-Russian separatists captured a BUK air defense missile system at a Ukrainian military base and fired a missile on July 17 that exploded in direct proximity to the Malaysian aircraft, which had been carrying 298 people.