Photo satellite images: the border with NATO where Russia extends its military infrastructure. SUPERSONIC TU-22 bombers hosted by one of the bases
Karelia's Karelia O herry, one of the three rapid intervention brigades of the Finnish army, during the NATO Dynamic Front exercise, on November 17, 2024, near Rovaniemi, in the Finnish Lapland. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Profimedia
Russia expands its military infrastructure near the border with Finland, in an action described by North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) as the beginning of a long-term military concentration, The New York Times (NYT) reported.
The extension of this infrastructure takes place after Russia has announced that it will increase its military forces and set up new units in response to the accession of Finland and Sweden at NATO, after the invasion of Ukraine, started in 2022, notes The Moscow Times.
Satellite images, surprised by the American company Planet Labs, according to NYT, Russian helicopters at a base near the Arctic Murmansk city – this being their first appearance there in the last 20 years. The base is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) of Russia's borders with Finland and Norway.
At Olenya air base, near Olenogorsk, south of Murmansk, the satellite photos show a significant increase in the number of military aircraft. The air base houses Russian supersonic bombers TU-22, with a long range.
Further south, in the city of Alakurtti, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) on the border with Finland, new buildings have appeared, which are believed to host dozens of military vehicles. Similar constructions were observed in the Russian city of Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia.
Over 130 military tents appeared last year in a restored base in Kamenka, a base dating from the Cold War and is located in the Leningrad region in northwestern Russia, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) on the border with Finland.
Satellite Imagery Has Revealed Anted in Russia's Military Activity Near Its Border With Finland Signaling Its Intensive to Build up Its Troops by Nato's Eastern Flank.
The Pictures from Earth Imaging Company Planet Labs PBC Show Increased Accommodation, Aircraft… pic.twitter.com/2dimvv0knw
– Mila.alien 🇺🇦 (@mila__alien) May 18, 2025
Finland, which now has the longest border with Russia between NATO countries, has closed the distress of its terrestrial border with Russia in December 2023, after an increase in the number of asylum applicants, which Helsinki attributed to the Kremlin.
Finnish defense officials are afraid that Russia could triple the presence of his troops near the common border, within five years, once the Ukraine fights will calm down.
“The growth of military force in the areas near us will take place after the struggles in Ukraine will calm down,” said Janne Kuusela, politics director of the Finnish Defense Ministry, for NYT.
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