Finnish conscripts are being trained for potential all-out war with Russia, as the country reinforces its 1,350-kilometre border amid escalating hybrid threats. At the Raja-Jooseppi border crossing, Finnish border guard Mikko Lehmus stated that personnel are preparing for every scenario, including GPS jamming, drone incursions, and the weaponisation of migration. "We're prepared to be part of Finnish territorial defence," Lehmus said, noting that Russia's nuclear-capable fleet is stationed just 150 to 200 kilometres from the frontier in Murmansk. In 2023, Russia directed migrant flows toward Finland as part of broader hybrid tactics targeting Ukraine's Western allies, prompting Helsinki to permanently close its land border with Russia by November of that year. The move included suspending asylum applications, justified under the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration, which remains in force until the end of 2024. Justice Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson, who initiated the border closure, defended the decision, saying, "It was the right decision. I sleep well at night," adding that Russia knows Finland is always prepared. Conscript Lauri Stenback, a 19-year-old sniper trainee, said he had never handled a firearm before joining the military but discovered a natural aptitude for shooting. He described training for reconnaissance missions, including operating behind enemy lines if conflict erupts. The Sami people, an indigenous group spanning northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, have also been affected. Sami Parliament President Pirita Näkkäläjärvi revealed that some Sami men from the Russian side have been forcibly conscripted and sent to fight in Ukraine. Cross-border cultural ties have been severed due to the war.
When Finland's justice minister says she sleeps well because Russia knows the Finns are always ready, it signals a national posture built on quiet, relentless preparedness rather than rhetoric. The training of teenage conscripts like Lauri Stenback for deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines shows Finland is treating hybrid aggression as a prelude to war, not an alternative to it. This is not crisis response — it's long-term deterrence modelled on the assumption that peace is maintained only when defence is non-negotiable.
