LAPPEENRANTA: At a shooting range 10 miles from the Russian border, Finnish army reservist Janne Latto opened the trunk of his car and unpacked a small surveillance drone and controller, equipment he sees as vital for any future conflict with Finland\u2019s neighbor.
\nSince the invasion of Ukraine prompted Helsinki to join NATO two years ago, tensions reminiscent of the Cold War have resurfaced along the forested 1,340-km (833-mile) frontier, Europe\u2019s longest with Russia. The Nordic nation is beefing up an already-sizeable reservist force and will host a new command for NATO, whose members meet in the Hague on June 24 for an annual summit. Still under construction, an imposing barbed-wire-topped fence now dominates a once-bustling section of the border, closed by Finland after it accused Russia of weaponizing migration. Shopping malls and restaurants that buzzed with Russian visitors have fallen quiet. On the other side, Russia has slowly begun dusting off Soviet-era military bases, satellite images show. Kyiv\u2019s June 1 attack on Russia\u2019s strategic bomber fleet, including at the Olenya airfield near northern Finland, brought the war in Ukraine closer to home.
\nFor this story, Reuters spoke to a dozen people in Finland\u2019s border region, where the emerging divisions have left some unable to visit relatives and caused economic losses. Others supported the measures, citing a need to prepare for and deter future conflict. At the shooting range \u2014 near the lakeside town of Lappeenranta, some 100 miles from Russia\u2019s second city, St. Petersburg \u2014 Latto said the Lauritsala Reservists were training with three drones including the Parrot Anafi surveillance vehicle, used by the professional armies of several NATO members, including Finland.
\nA grant from Finland\u2019s association of reservist groups meant ten more were on order, he said.
\nThe 2022 assault on Ukraine hardened 47-year-old Latto\u2019s perception of Russia.
\n\u201cWhat if they decide to come and change the border, just like they went to Ukraine,\u201d said Latto, who runs a small business assembling neon signs and billboards.
\nHe recalled Soviet attempts to invade during World War Two, and how Finland was forced to cede approximately 10 percent of its territory to Russia, including Ayrapaa, a nearby municipality that his grandfather died defending in 1944.
\nThe countries each insist they pose no threat to the other. Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said some level of Russian buildup is a normal response to Helsinki\u2019s accession to NATO, which more than doubled the length of Russia\u2019s border with the alliance.
\nHowever, a Finnish government defense report late last year described \u201ca heightened risk of an armed conflict,\u201d citing the development of Russia\u2019s military capabilities since the start for the war in Ukraine, and saying Moscow had ambitions to create a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d from the Arctic to Southern Europe. Finland has since announced plans to stockpile land mines. It banned Finnish-Russian dual nationals from flying drones and Russians from buying property, and last week warned that mobile signals were disrupted in regions near Russia.
\n\u201cFinland is responsible for over half of the entire land border between NATO countries and Russia,\u201d Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen posted on X on Thursday, saying the country\u2019s defense posture was to ensure the border \u201cremains inviolable.\u201d Finland\u2019s presidency declined to comment for this story. Russia\u2019s foreign ministry did not respond to a comment request. President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denied any plans to attack NATO. He said he did not see NATO rearmament as a threat. After Finland joined the alliance, Moscow announced plans to strengthen military capacity in Russia\u2019s west and northwest.
\nThe activities of the Finnish reservists, who also use firearms in target practice, are voluntary, although most have completed Finland\u2019s long-standing mandatory male conscription.
\nMore than 50,000 Finns take part in such clubs, up by about a third since before the Ukraine war, according to the Finnish Reservists\u2019 Association, with a similar increase in the number of reservists called up by the military for refresher training. Even older members of Latto\u2019s band of volunteers could see service in a crisis, as Finland raises the reserve\u2019s upper age limit to 65 to add 125,000 troops to a wartime army, and to take the number of reservists to one million by 2031.
\nHe welcomed the extended military service, saying older reservists could be drone or radar operators.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t have to run with the infantry to be a part of the modern battlefield,\u201d said Latto, a skilled hobbyist who has made his own first-person-view goggles to control a homemade drone.<\/p>\n
SPLIT FAMILIES
\nSome businesses are unhappy with the changes. Shopping malls and restaurants once buzzing with Russian visitors are noticeably emptier. Up to 13 million annual cross-border trips have ended, affecting dual citizens with family in Russia.
\nThe vanishing Russian tourists and dearth of trade has taken at least 300 million euros annually from a 5.5 billion euro local economy, the region\u2019s council said. Unemployment soared to close to 15 percent at the end of last year, higher than the national average.
\nAntique shopkeeper Janne Tarvainen said that previously, some locals complained the Russian visitors had made it hard to get reservations in restaurants or find parking spots.
\n\u201cI saw it differently \u2013 money was coming into the town,\u201d said Tarvainen, who is now looking for online shoppers to replace Russian footfall.
\nOksana Serebriakova, 50, whose grandfather was Finnish, moved to Lappeenranta from Moscow after the COVID-19 pandemic looking for better opportunities for her 17-year-old son Vitalik. Her older son and the boys\u2019 father stayed in the Russian capital, with plans for frequent visits.
\nThe border closure has split the family, creating \u201ca very sad situation,\u201d said Serebriakova, who is studying for a business administration diploma at a local vocational college.
\nThe migration problem \u201ccould have been solved\u201d with measures such as strict checks at entry points similar to airports, she suggested.
\nFinland has around 38,000 dual citizens, official data shows, considerably less than other countries bordering Russia. About 420,000 Finns who lived in territory ceded to Russia after World War Two settled in Finland.
\nIvan Deviatkin, a local politician who has a son in Finland and an aging mother in Russia, unsuccessfully challenged the border closure in Finland\u2019s courts. Nine plaintiffs now have a complaint pending hearing at the European Court of Human Rights, which has asked Finland to justify the shutdown.<\/p>\n
\u2019RE-BORDERING\u2019
\nFor decades after World War Two, Finland gradually opened trade and travel connections with Russia.
\nNow though, the E18 motorway that links Helsinki and St. Petersburg ends abruptly at metal barricades at the border, as do other previously busy roads. Finland closed the frontier over the arrivals of undocumented migrants in 2023, which Helsinki viewed as a Russian policy response to its accession to NATO. Moscow said it was abiding by rules and that Finland had adopted an anti-Russia stance.
\nAt the time, the borderline was hardly visible, mostly marked only by poles or a low barrier to keep domestic animals from wandering off, with a small trail for occasional canine patrols to follow. In place of that, Finland is raising 200 km (124 miles) of 4.5-meter (15 ft)-high fence dotted with cameras and motion sensors in the most passable areas of the forest-covered 1,340-km (833 mile) border. A new dirt road runs parallel for quicker access by border guards.
\nThe changes had made \u201ca big, big impact,\u201d said Finnish Border Guard Head of Operations Samuel Siljanen.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve moved kind of from an era of de-bordering to one of re-bordering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
NATO COMMAND
\nHopes for a quick detente run low. Helsinki believes Russia will reinforce the neighboring Leningrad military region once the war in Ukraine ends, president Stubb has said, although he downplays any threat from Russia so far.
\nBehind the border, satellite images show Russia beginning some work on garrisons, including building new warehouses. A senior government official aware of Finland\u2019s military planning described such work as minor and not a threat. Finland has long had a strong military. It has ordered 64 US-made F-35s to modernize its fighter jet fleet. It has the largest artillery arsenal in Western Europe, another official said.
\nThe sources requested anonymity to speak about sensitive matters.
\nIt is important \u201cto signal credibly to Russia that it\u2019s not worth it,\u201d said Chatham House associate fellow Minna Alander, whose research includes work on Finnish and Northern European security. She said Finland was not a threat to Russia.
\n\u201cNATO will never attack Russia, and I believe they know this,\u201d Alander said.
\nThe new NATO northern headquarters will host around 50 officers from countries including the US and UK together with the Finnish Army Command, in the eastern Finnish town of Mikkeli, a two-hour drive from the border.
\n\u201cIn the event that we ever moved into a conflict, this headquarters would be working alongside NATO forces in a command and control role,\u201d Brig. Chris Gent of the Allied Land Command told Reuters on a visit in Finland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAPPEENRANTA: At a shooting range 10 miles from the Russian border, Finnish army reservist Janne Latto opened the trunk of his car and unpacked a small surveillance drone and controller, equipment he sees as vital for any future conflict with Finland\u2019s neighbor. Since the invasion of Ukraine prompted Helsinki to join NATO two years ago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-486212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n