NATO member launches military exercise on Russia’s doorstep

Finland has launched large-scale military exercises 100km from the Russian border, the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) has said.

The new NATO member’s ‘Northern Strike 225’ artillery firing drills, which kicked off on Monday, will continue for a week at the Rovajarvi shooting range in the north-eastern part of the country, the FDF said in an earlier statement.

The war games brought together three Finnish brigades, the country’s border guards, and a Polish multiple rocket launcher battery, according to the statement.

A total of 2,200 personnel and 500 vehicles are taking part in the exercises, which the FDF said are needed “to train the army’s artillery system and develop its performance in demanding early winter conditions,” while also improving coordination between various units.

The commander of the drills, Lieutenant Colonel Kimmo Ruotsalainen, described ‘Northern Strike 225’ as “the most significant artillery and mortar firing exercise… where we will finalize the skills of the fire units.”

According to the Finnish military, the end of the year will be an “intensive training period” for its forces, with some 20,000 servicemen from the army, navy and air force taking part in exercises across the country between November and December.

Finland, which shares a land border of approximately 1,340km (830 miles) with Russia, abandoned its long-standing policy of neutrality and joined NATO in April 2023, citing security concerns over the Ukraine conflict. The next year, another Nordic nation, Sweden, also became a member of the US-led military bloc.

After the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, Helsinki imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow and closed the border with Russia, hurting Finnish business that benefited from Russian tourists.

During the conflict, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has been one of the harshest critics of Russia in the EU, advocating for increased Western military aid to Kiev. Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled Stubb as a “militarist hawk.”

Peskov earlier said Russia previously “had no problems” with Finland and Sweden, expressing regret that the two countries effectively “reduced to zero” their relations with Moscow by “dragging NATO military infrastructure onto their territory.”