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Putin Orders New Barriers and Fortifications on NATO Border With Finland
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia has announced plans to strengthen its border with Finland by constructing new fortifications and barriers.
The initiative, ordered by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, was confirmed by Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev during a visit to the Leningrad region.
According to The Moscow Times, Medvedev stated that Russia must “increase the reliability of border protection” in response to Finland’s membership in NATO.
He claimed that construction is already underway, with “walls and other barriers” being built along the frontier. Medvedev also warned that Moscow must prepare for what he described as potential “unfriendly acts” from Finland, now a full member of the Alliance.
The official also pointed to what he called “increased military activity” near Russia’s borders, mentioning the Baltic states, Poland, and Norway.
Speaking after his inspection of a border crossing at Svetogorsk, Medvedev said that Finland’s accession to NATO had “predetermined changes in Russia’s military approaches to border arrangements.”
The announcement comes shortly after the opening of a new NATO regional land forces command center in Mikkeli, Finland, located just 140 kilometers from the Russian border.
The headquarters, which began operations on September 1, will initially host around ten officers, with numbers expected to grow to 50. It falls under the oversight of NATO’s Norfolk Command in the United States and will coordinate allied land forces in Northern Europe, including joint planning and exercises.
Finland formally joined NATO in April 2023, ending decades of military neutrality in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sweden completed its accession in 2024. As a result, NATO’s land border with Russia more than doubled, stretching over 1,300 kilometers.
Earlier this year, Finland approved a multi-billion-euro project to build a NATO rail link through Sweden to Norway’s Arctic port of Narvik, designed to speed the movement of troops and heavy equipment and reduce dependence on Russian-gauge tracks, according to Iltalehti on April 23.
-24ca8683eb01b729cd8fae98f952003a.jpg "Ukrainian Ratel-S drone equipped with a downed Shahed warhead. (Source: omelyanovi4/Instagram)")
-0158b6b681e3668f470de36aedad9e3c.jpg "Russian Su-24 bomber moments before Ukrainian drone strike, Crimea. (Source: HUR)")
