International Desk //

The war in Ukraine is still ongoing. In the meantime, another new battlefield ‘parade’ has begun in Russia. This time, the opponent is Finland, a new friend of NATO, its eastern neighbor. The two countries share a border of about 1,340 kilometers.

Russia is quietly building new bases along this long border. It is deploying troops. It has also started modernizing military infrastructure.

On the one hand, preparations for the next stage of the Ukrainian war, on the other hand, Finland’s recent NATO accession – all of this combined, Russia is drawing a map of the future conflict on this northern border of Europe.

Russia’s secret war preparations have spread fear of war to its Baltic neighbors Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. AFP, Guardian.

Analysts say that even if the war in Ukraine stops, Russian forces may be deployed on this border on a larger scale. And that could be the beginning of a new conflict. Finland joined NATO in April 2023. Since then, Russia has begun building military bases and renovating airfields in border areas.

The Kremlin believes that Finland’s accession to NATO has jeopardized its traditional strategic balance. As a result, Moscow is giving importance to this new alliance border as a defense and potential attack area.

Satellite images show that Finland has set up more than 130 military tents in the Kamenka region, just 60 kilometers from the border, since February this year. This is enough to accommodate about 2,000 troops.

Russia is increasing its military presence not only in Finland, but also on the Norwegian and Baltic borders to counter NATO. It is expanding military infrastructure around the city of Petrozavodsk, just 100 miles from the Finnish and Norwegian borders.

It has built three large warehouses. Each has the capacity to store about 50 armored vehicles. Analysts believe that this could be Moscow’s new headquarters in case of a possible conflict with NATO.

Russia has also reactivated two important Soviet-era air bases – Severomorsk-2 and Oleny.

Moscow has said that these steps are being taken to avoid drone attacks from Ukraine. However, NATO fears that Moscow is strengthening its military presence in the Arctic region not only for security but also to exert influence over natural resources and important shipping routes.

Finnish defense officials said that this Russian initiative, although on a small scale, could be a special preparation for the deployment of thousands of troops and military equipment. They believe that Russia could bring back large forces to these regions when the war in Ukraine ends.

The head of strategy of the Finnish defense forces said, “We knew that something like this would happen if we joined NATO. We are ready for everything.”

He also said, we do not see any immediate threat to Finland. However, Russia’s movements are under daily surveillance.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said, “I am not at all worried about Russia’s actions. Finland and Norway will be very safe.”

Earlier, in February, the Danish intelligence agency warned that a stalemate in the Ukraine war could lead to a large-scale ground war in Europe within 5 years.

Many have said that Moscow will only take 2 years to prepare. However, the European Union (EU) has said that Europe must be ready to defend itself in any situation.

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