Satellite imagery has exposed the enhancement of Moscow’s military buildup along the Finnish frontier—an eerie resemblance to photographs captured at Russian installations beforehand. Putin started his conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow Analysts say that they are constructing soldier housing, developing infrastructure for deploying aircraft, and renovating older structures at important military installations. This indicates their intention to bolster capacities in the frontier area.
The images acquired by the Swedish television network SVT from Planet Labs indicate potential activity at four sites within Russia: Kamenka, Petrozavodsk, Severomorsk-2, and Olenya.
In Kamenka, located approximately 35 miles from the Finnish border and formerly unpopulated, over 130 military tents designed to accommodate about 2,000 soldiers reportedly emerged since February.
Russian authorities retaliated against Finland and Sweden 's recent accession to NATO At the time, there was a loose threat of 'military-technical retaliatory actions,' which now seem to have been initiated.
"When we applied for NATO membership, Russia stated it would respond with certain measures. Now, we are witnessing those actions," remarked Sweden’s Chief of Defence Michael Claesson.
In November 2021, U.S. officials raised concerns about satellite imagery indicating a buildup of Russian forces along the frontier with Ukraine—a situation Moscow refuted as baseless. Within roughly four months, however, Putin initiated an all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow has charged NATO with functioning as an aggressor instead of a protective organization, and has consistently pledged to safeguard itself through all available means, employing techniques such as GPS interference and others.
Finland's accession to NATO on April 4, 2023, which extended the alliance's border with Russia by over 800 miles, provoked fury in Moscow, with Putin's cronies warning that the use of nuclear weapons would not be off the table if conflict were to arise.
In what seems like a reaction to the NATO expansion, Moscow now looks to be gearing up for potential conflict by swiftly advancing construction projects along its northwestern frontier.
'This indicates growing activity,' noted Finnish military analyst Emil Kastehelmi, who is monitoring the situation, in an interview with SVT.
In Petrozavodsk, approximately 100 miles from the Finnish border, three substantial warehouses have been constructed. Experts believe these structures serve as storage facilities for armored vehicles.
The current halls can accommodate approximately 50 people, and an additional one is being built, as indicated by recent photos taken at the end of April.
Images from the northern region indicate that the formerly shut-down Severomorsk-2 airbase seems to be operational now, with apparent completion of renovation work in the past few years.
Multiple helicopters are observed stationed in slots alongside the airstrip, which lies 110 miles away from the Finnish border and under 70 miles from Norway.
At the same time, in Olenya, which is approximately 90 miles away from Finland, the airbase is reportedly operational. It houses Russian bombers conducting strikes against locations within Ukraine, as stated by Kyiv.
Last month, Finnish Deputy Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Vesa Virtanen voiced worries about Russia’s activities at the border, indicating that the Kremlin is ‘intentionally probing NATO’s solidarity’ to determine whether this might activate Article 5 – the alliance’s principle of mutual defense.
In an interview with the German publication Welt, Virtanen stated that Russia has been using hybrid warfare strategies such as cyberattacks and large-scale cross-border migrations to test Article 5. The country is also reportedly setting up new facilities for housing Russian forces near its borders.
'Back then, during the conflict, approximately 20,000 soldiers were posted with around four reserve brigades ready for action. Now we observe that Russia is constructing new facilities, and once they're able to, additional forces will be deployed to this area,' cautioned Virtanen.
The head of the military stated that they are restructuring from battalions into approximately four to five regiments, along with an army corps and auxiliary units.
'As a result, we'll see more forces stationed there now compared to before the start of the Ukraine conflict,' he noted additionally, emphasizing that Finland has long been prepared to protect its partners.
Following Finland’s accession to NATO, Putin declared the creation of the 'Leningrad Military District' close to the Finnish border and said more troops would be stationed in the region.
However, the Russian leader has consistently downplayed worries about a possible assault on NATO countries as 'utter foolishness,' maintaining that Russia harbors no desire to clash with the alliance.
In 2021, when Washington pointed out a military buildup along Ukraine’s border, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov firmly rejected these reports. He stated that there was no point in spending time on what he called ‘low-quality’ allegations.
'The deployment of our military hardware and troops... is solely our concern,' he stated to journalists back then. 'Russia has not posed a threat to anyone.'
Last month, the ex-Russian president cautioned that if Moscow decides to do so, NATO's more recent member countries could become possible targets for nuclear retaliation.
Dmitry Medvedev, known for his confrontational stance against the West, seemed to comment on Sweden and Finland, the latest nations to become part of the Western military bloc.
In case of conflict, nuclear weapons wouldn’t be ruled out as an option, according to the TASS state news agency.
'Medvedev stated that their non-aligned stance provided Finland and Sweden with specific global advantages, considering their geostrategic location and numerous additional elements.'
‘Now they have become part of an adversarial group against us, which makes them automatic targets for our armed forces. This includes possible counterattacks as well as involvement in the nuclear aspect or preemptive actions under the guidelines of our military strategy.’
Last week, Moscow similarly cautioned Britain about sending a 'coalition of the willing' to Ukraine, stating it might result in a nuclear Third World War.
Sergei Shoigu, who is closely associated with Putin and serves as both the secretary of the influential Russian Security Council and a former defense minister, stated that Russia does not accept Western troops being present on the ground in the conflict-ravaged nation.
He also cautioned about the Kremlin’s preparedness to employ nuclear weapons and resume atomic testing in the Arctic—the first such actions since the Cold War—asserting that Europe is covertly gearing up for a conflict with Russia by the year 2030.
'Practical politicians in Europe realize that putting Western forces on Ukrainian soil might result in a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, potentially leading to World War Three,' he said to the state news agency TASS.
Shoigu stated that it would be more accurate to refer to these British and EU forces as 'a contingent of interveners or occupiers,' echoing Sir Keir Starmer’s term ‘coalition of the willing’.
'From where will these peacekeepers originate?'
'These will be troops from the same NATO nations, against whose presence Russia had objections even prior to the [conflict] that started mainly due to this issue—the establishment of NATO’s military facilities in Ukraine, on what we consider our historic land.'
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