NORTH KARELIA, FINLAND – Peer through the wire fence dividing Finland and Russia, and a double-headed eagle stares back. The symbol of the Russian Federation is emblazoned on to a red and green striped post that marks the end of allied territory and the start of Vladimir Putin’s empire.
The boundary snakes through dense, uniform forest in the remote North Karelia region, and is heavily surveilled. Blocked by a 3.5m-high fence topped with another metre of barbed wire, it is monitored around the clock by cameras, sensors and patrols from land and air.
Less than three years ago, this border was open. Russian tourists came and went freely. Finns travelled to Russia to get cheaper fuel for their cars. Everything changed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With growing aggression across the rest of Europe and accusations that the Kremlin was weaponising illegal migration into Finland, the border was shut in December 2023.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the closure came in the year that Finland joined Nato. Finland’s acceptance into the military alliance more than doubled Nato’s border with Russia, creating its single longest boundary with Russia.
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