21/06/2025
Breaking: New Russia-Finland war? Putin is massing a large army on the borders of this European country
While all attention is focused on the war in Ukraine, some European countries are increasingly concerned about Russian military activity along other parts of their border with Europe. Near the border with Finland, in the Russian city of Petrozavodsk, Russian military engineers are expanding army bases where the Kremlin plans to establish a new army headquarters to oversee tens of thousands of troops over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"These soldiers, many of whom are now serving on the front lines in Ukraine, are expected to form the backbone of Russia's military as it prepares to clash with NATO, according to Western military and intelligence officials. The Kremlin is expanding military recruitment, stepping up weapons production and upgrading rail lines in border areas," the newspaper writes. US President Donald Trump has previously said that concerns that Russia has ambitions beyond Ukraine are overblown. However, military experts have described the activity along the border with Finland as part of the Kremlin's preparations for a potential conflict with NATO.
Russia's increased spending has pushed arms factories to full capacity, prompting defense companies to expand production lines and open new plants, European defense officials say.
In 2021, before the invasion, Russia produced about 40 of its T-90M main battle tanks, according to Western intelligence estimates. It now produces nearly 300 a year. Yet a senior Finnish military official said almost none of them are sent to the front lines in Ukraine, but remain on Russian soil for later use.
Artillery and ammunition production is expected to grow by about 20% this year, while the quality and production of drones has increased significantly. In a February report, the Danish intelligence agency warned that Russia could start a major war in Europe within five years if it deemed NATO weak.
One European intelligence official said Russia might try to test the alliance's cohesion by invading a small NATO country, such as Estonia, which has a significant Russian population. According to Michael Kofman, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Baltic officials "are looking at a two- to three-year time frame after the war. If the benchmark is a large-scale war, presumably with NATO, then the time frame could be closer to seven to 10 years, depending on the scenario."
At the same time, in order to concentrate its forces on the West, the Kremlin last year changed the way it organizes its forces domestically, creating new districts linked to the defense of its largest cities, Moscow and St.
Petersburg.
In the Moscow Military District, Russia is integrating the road and rail links its military uses with those in neighboring Belarus. But most of the increase in personnel will come from the Leningrad District, which borders Estonia, Latvia and Finland. Small brigades will nearly triple in size to become 10,000-strong divisions, according to Western military and intelligence officials.
Russia is also adapting its rearmament plans to meet the needs of new troops that will be stationed along its border with NATO. These units will receive much of their equipment new.
At the same time, much of what is being sent to the front lines in Ukraine is old and refurbished Soviet-era weapons.
