Frozen Frontline, 2023
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Arctic’s territories have experienced growing geopolitical instability. Finland, which already experienced conflict with the Soviet Union during the Second World War, remains on its guard against this security emergency. In order to be as prepared as possible for any eventuality, the country organises annual military exercises in the vicinity of Nurmes, in the region of North Karelia.
Continuing his work on the armed forces in the Arctic regions, Louie Palu has documented this preparation in polar environments.
On 30 November 1939, 1,200,000 Soviet soldiers invaded Finnish territory with the aim of recovering strategic territories for the defence of St Petersburg. Although the USSR government thought it would be able to lay siege to Helsinki in a fortnight, around 200,000 Finns spontaneously mobilised and put up remarkable resistance to the enemy, managing to repel a large number of massive assaults thanks to their intimate knowledge of the polar forests, lakes and marshes that make up the demanding terrain of the 1,350km border shared by the two nations. Although dignified, the Finnish defeat, which resulted in the annexation of territories that have still not been recovered, remains a bitter memory in the national memory.
Was it the painful legacy of that winter war, known as Talvisota to the Finns, that led the country to continue investing in its army at a time when its European neighbours were making the opposite choice?
This small nation of around 5.5 million inhabitants may only have 23,000 soldiers, but it has a reserve of almost 900,000 men and 280,000 of whom can be mobilised immediately. What’s more, Finland has decided to maintain compulsory military service, training almost 21,000 young people a year, most of whom volunteer on their own initiative – proof of the importance of patriotism in civil society.
Finally, the state organises an annual military exercise called Kontio 22. Some 50km from the Russian border, close to the Lost Lands, the soldiers practise their defence skills during simulated foreign attacks, from camouflage to survival, and ensure that they have mastered the use of tanks and attack helicopters, as well as their artillery, which is considered to be one of the best in Europe.
Faced with Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, Finland, along with its neighbours Sweden and Norway, applied to join NATO.
In reaction to Finland’s accession in April 2023, and as an alarming echo of the preparations for his “special military operation” in Ukraine justified by Kyiv’s rapprochement with NATO, Vladimir Putin announced in December 2023 that he was stepping up the militarisation of the territories close to the border, assuring us that “there were no problems there, but [that] there will be now”, and making the future appearance of a polar front in northern Europe increasingly likely.
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