It's a Military Town-Up Near the Finnish Border! (Russia edition)
Constructing a new military settlement close to the border with Finland, Russia pushes forward with its defense expansion.
Russia's been flexing its military muscles recently, and Finland's got its eyes peeled. Reports flying around claim that Moscow's beefing up its troops at the Russian-Finnish border, and new satellite snaps suggest some unusual moves. Seems they're constructing an entire city for the military in the Kandalaksha region of Murmansk.
A couple of years since Finland joined NATO, it seems Russia's aiming to boost its military presence near the Russian-Finnish border - according to the grapevine, anyway. Finnish broadcaster Yle's shown us some satellite imagery that points to a serious build for a garrison for an artillery brigade.
This is all we've got concrete evidence of so far in terms of a permanent troop increase, says Yle. According to local authorities in Murmansk, they're busy constructing a military domicile in the area, around 150 kilometers east of the border. The satellite snaps also hint at changes in other Russian military locations close to the border, as per Yle.
Swedish broadcaster SVT's had a squiz at some satellite images too, claiming they show initial signs of Russian buildup, this time near the border with Finland. They've spotted three warehouses for about 150 armored vehicles in Petrosavodsk, around 175 kilometers from the border.
Word on the street is a tent city for several thousand soldiers is being erected at the military base in Kamenka, while the 1998-abandoned air force support point of Severomorsk-2 is reportedly being revamped.
Even though the Russian army's been seen stirring for months, it's still not on the massive scale we saw before the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the Russian-Ukrainian border. The "New York Times" assures us that this isn't on par with the pre-invasion buildup in February 2022.
Finland, with a 1,340-kilometer-long border with Russia, the longest of any NATO nation with its eastern neighbor, joined NATO in 2023, followed by Sweden around a year later, under the shadow of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Sources: ntv.de, raf/dpa
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Extra Insights: It's thought that this military town-up is a response to Finland joining NATO, piquing Russian leadership's interest. They perceive NATO expansion as a strategic threat, prompting them to beef up their defenses along Finland's northern frontier. Analysts predict that Russia intends to expand ground forces in this sensitive region as part of its security posture.
- The construction of a military city in the Kandalaksha region of Murmansk, as seen in satellite imagery, appears to be part of Russia's employment policy to boost its military presence near the Russian-Finnish border, following Finland's joining of NATO.
- As tensions rise between Finland and Russia, the latter is reportedly employing various strategies in their community policy, such as constructing military domiciles and revamping military bases, likely in response to Finland's alliance with NATO, a move that has been perceived as a strategic threat by Russia.
