The Swedish army organized a large-scale military exercise in the spring, with the objective of preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict. Body bags, a priest performing burial rituals for fictitious soldiers, and testing the resistance of refrigeration units demonstrate how far Sweden is willing to go in preparing for war.
Approximately 18,000 soldiers from 13 countries participated in the military exercise Aurora 26, held this year between April and May. It included training for handling fallen soldiers on the battlefield. According to a study published in the journal „Frontiers in Psychiatry”, over 500 mannequins and body bags were used to simulate war casualties.
The exercise aimed to test the entire chain of procedures regarding the management of deceased victims in conflict: recovery of bodies, identification, notification to allied embassies and the International Red Cross Committee, as well as burial with military honors, as reported by Euronews.
Over 300 soldiers participated, along with representatives from the Church of Sweden, the Swedish Tax Agency, and the national recruitment agency.
This Hasn't Been Seen Since the '50s
The commanding officer told researchers, "I am proud to have taken part in this endeavor. The last time this was practiced was, I believe, in 1952, so I am proud to have contributed."
A military priest spoke about the visual impact, stating that the abstract reality of war victims suddenly became concrete after seeing dozens of body bags lined up.
The specialized publication Defence24 reported that it was the first time this process was jointly practiced by all major institutions. Officials presented the exercise more as a matter of morale and institutional readiness rather than an estimate of the number of victims.
A military medic noted that, following this testing, there will be a "major change" needed in terms of ensuring resources for medical teams in scenarios with a high number of casualties, while another soldier told researchers that the exercise provided them with "a clearer understanding of the consequences of war."
Planning for the Most Pessimistic Scenario
The Church of Sweden, the official authority responsible for national funeral services, has long been tasked with planning burial capacity equivalent to 5% of the country's population, around 500,000 people.
This figure represents a civil defense benchmark from the Cold War era and includes deaths both among military personnel and civilians nationally, therefore it does not represent a forecast related to the Aurora 26 exercise or any specific estimate of the number of victims.
This does not mean that authorities expect such a high number of casualties, clarified Jan-Olof Olsson, a representative of the Swedish Civil Defense Agency, to the daily Le Monde. "To plan, we need an estimate," he explained.
NATO Forces Trained by Ukrainian Experts
The spring military exercise is part of a broader effort in which the Baltic states and the northern flank of NATO simulate critical scenarios, amid persistent tensions with Russia, as reported by Euronews.
Within Aurora 26, Ukrainian drone specialists trained NATO troops in countering tactics, and forces from the USA, the Netherlands, France, Poland, and other allied states carried out operations in southern Sweden, on the island of Gotland, and in the Baltic Sea.
Sweden's participation in these exercises is remarkable. This country maintained neutrality in both world wars and during the Cold War and has not deployed troops on a mission since 1814.
T.D.