Finland has confirmed that Russia is expanding its military presence along Finland’s border, prompting the NATO ally to monitor the Russian military’s movements and “prepare for the worst.”
According to The Guardian, Maj. Gen. Sami Nurmi, who serves as the head of strategy for the Finnish Defence Forces, recently warned that the Finnish military is watching Russia’s movements “very closely” and noted that Finland has to “prepare for the worst” as part of the country’s responsibility to NATO.
The Guardian cited satellite images obtained by The New York Times that allegedly show Russia’s expansion of military infrastructure near the border of Finland. According to The Guardian, the pictures show additional rows of Russian tents, military vehicles, fighter jet shelter renovations, and construction on a helicopter base.
A picture of Russia’s expanded military forces near its border with Finland was shared Monday by Roman Sheremeta on X, formerly Twitter.
According to The Guardian, Nurmi addressed the recent reports of Russia’s military expansion along the border of Finland, saying, “They are changing structures and we are seeing moderate preparations when it comes to building infrastructure close to our borders, meaning that they will, once the war in Ukraine hopefully ends, start to bring back the forces that have been fighting in Ukraine, especially land forces.”
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The Guardian reported that while Russia’s expansion of military forces on the border of Finland is not unexpected due to Finland joining NATO in 2023 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nurmi warned that Finland is watching Russia’s movements “very closely.”
“They are doing it in phases. I would say it is still moderate numbers. It’s not big construction, but in certain places building new infrastructure and preparing, bringing new equipment in,” Nurmi said. “You also have to evaluate whether they are preparing to send more troops to Ukraine or preparing to build up their forces close to our border. But I guess they are doing both.”
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office whether he was concerned with the reports of Russia’s “military build-up” along the borders of Finland and Norway. In response, Trump said, “No. I don’t worry about that at all. They’re going to be very safe. Those are two countries that are going to be very safe.”
