STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Government officials in Sweden have advised towns to make preparations for potential attacks by Russia. 
 
 The Civil Contingency Agency informed local authorities last week that they should maintain operations in underground bunkers and ensure emergency systems are working properly. 
 
 "In a state of war, civil defense for municipalities is no different from any of the other services they should provide," the agency said in a letter, which instructed local governments to "ensure their ability to maintain their functions during disturbed situations, and at the most extreme, in a war scenario." 
 
 The unusual move is a return to similar defenses the country maintained during the Cold War, known as the "Total Defense Strategy." 
 
 "This strategy is not new. We used it during the Cold War and we are going to now strengthen coordination regarding civil defense," Magnus Dyberg-Ek, who is leading the civil defence operation for MSB, told Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. 
 
 Last week, Russia's ambassador to Sweden told a Swedish television audience not to worry about an invasion. 
 
 "We respect the integrity of Sweden, and we have no plans whatsoever to invade Sweden, so the Swedish population can sleep easy," Viktor Tatarintsev told Sweden's SVT television network. 
 
 Sweden's concerns have been heightened by Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea; entry of Swedish airspace by Russian fighter planes during training exercises; and reports of unidentified submarines in Swedish waters. Although Sweden and Russia do not share a border, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad lies 200 miles away across the Baltic Sea. 

 These include developing a plan to maintain and upgrade emergency bunkers across the country, many of which have been sold or allowed to fall into disrepair. 
 
 “Operations centres in bunkers need to continue to be held in ready reserve. In special cases, decommissioning or sale can take place, but first there must be a dialogue between MSB and the local region,” the letter warned. 
 
 Sweden’s government decided to bring back civil defence last year as part of its defence policy for 2016 to 2020. 
 
 "There is nothing to suggest that war is likely, but we have been given an order from the government to plan for it,” Svante Werger, the press officer for MSB, told the Sydsvenskan newspaper. 
 
 The letter has provoked complaints from some municipalities that they have insufficient information on what is required and have not been provided with the necessary funding. 

 Swedish soldiers on Gotland. Photo: Sören Andersson/TT 
 
 Russia has "no plans whatsover to invade Sweden", its ambassador in Stockholm has said. 
 
 Ambassador Victor Tatarintsev made the comments in an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT on Wednesday evening. 
 
 Relations between the two countries have been frosty for some time, with Sweden accusing Russia of showing aggressive tendencies and Russia dismissing the concerns as James Bond theories. 
 
 Speaking in Swedish, Tatarintsev said, listing a series of strategic locations in Sweden: "It is ludicrous to have any doubts that Russia has special military plans to attack Sweden, Gotland, Karlshamn, Slite… ludicrous. [sic]" 
 
 We think there was perhaps a language barrier here, and that he in fact meant to say the opposite, because he went on to clarify that Russia was not a "threat" to Sweden. 
 
 "We respect the integrity of Sweden and we have no plans whatsover to invade Sweden, so the Swedish population can sleep easy," said Tatarintsev. 
 
 It is unclear to what extent the Swedes will take the Russian ambassador's comments to heart. Earlier this year Sweden for the first time in a decade stationed a permanent military force on Gotland, considered a key strategic location in the Baltics and seen by some as a potential target for an aggressive Russia. 
 
 READ ALSO: Why idyllic holiday island Gotland is so important 
 
 The interview comes amid increased top-level concern in Sweden about regional plans to rent out Slite port on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland and Karlshamn harbour in the south to Russian-owned gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2, which would run from Russia to Germany. 
 
 The Supreme Commander of Sweden's Armed Forces, Micael Bydén, has expressed concern over giving a foreign power access to Swedish infrastructure, and the foreign ministry has called representatives from Gotland and Karlshamn to a special meeting on December 13th to discuss security-related issues. 
 
 Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has been reluctant to comment on specifics, but told Swedish media at a press conference on Wednesday that he had "doubts" about the Nord Stream 2 project in general. 
 
 On a visit to Stockholm earlier this year, US Vice President Joe Biden also declared Nord Stream 2 to be undesirable, calling it a “bad deal” for Europe.
– Sweden appears to be getting a little nervous about a potential war with Russia due to Russian military planes entering its airspace during training and reports of mysterious submarines in its waters, UPI reports. Oh and also because Russia's ambassador to Sweden said this: "It is ludicrous to have any doubts that Russia has special military plans to attack Sweden, Gotland, Karlshamn, Slite ... ludicrous." Those last three names are strategic locations in Sweden. The Local thinks Victor Tatarintsev, speaking in Swedish instead of his native Russian, likely misspoke in that quote. He followed it up by saying Russia has "no plans whatsoever to invade Sweden" and that "the Swedish population can sleep easy." Regardless, Sweden is returning to its Total Defense Strategy from the Cold War and telling authorities in towns and villages to prepare for a possible military attack by Russia, the Telegraph reports. Those preparations include putting operations centers in underground bunkers and making sure emergency sirens are in place and functional. And while Sweden's Civil Contingency Agency says it doesn't think war with Russia is likely—yet, anyway—it's putting military defenses on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea. "The security situation in our neighborhood has worsened," one agency leader says. "We must therefore make preparations regarding the threat of war and conflict.”