The towns dotted on the border between Russia and Finland are eerie (Pictures: Sarah Hooper)
The late afternoon sun is beating down as I stand near the tall, ornate black iron gates. Above me, the word ‘Zsar’, emboldened in golden letters with a crown above it, is hard to miss.
It refers to the high-end shopping centre standing behind the gates, which sits just a mile away from Russia, on Finland’s side of the border. Today, the luxury outlet village stands deserted.
The bustle of Russian tourists, which used to fill the opulent building each weekend as they scoured stores for a discounted designer bargain, has since been replaced with the sound of wind rustling through the leaves and birds singing in the nearby trees.
Across the road sits the only proof that we’re still near any form of civilisation – the barely-operating Vaalimaa shopping centre, filled to the brim with cleaning products, clothes, food, and every household item one could think of, with customers few and far between.
Some stock still carries an an eerie reminder of the year in which everything changed for this area of Finland – such as the Moomin Christmas ornaments which have sat in untouched green and gold boxes since 2022.
The Vaalimaa shopping centre was nearly empty (Picture: Sarah Hooper)
2022 Moomin ornaments were still on sale inside (Picture: Sarah Hooper)
The border town of Vaalimaa was once one of the largest checkpoints between Russia and Finland, but it is now a shell of its former self.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the nearby Zsar shopping centre declared bankruptcy just four years after opening to cater to Russian tourists, who would cross the border to visit the outlet village to snap up discounted luxury and designer brands, such as Nike and Karl Lagerfeld.
A year later, the Finnish government closed the eastern border after the Kremlin sent an influx of ‘refugees’ into the country.
Joel Linnainmäki, a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, tells Metro that since the border closed, there’s been little to report – but the Finnish government is still wary of Russian movement nearby.
‘There’s been very little activity, just some individuals attempting to cross,’ he says. ‘It doesn’t appear that it’s going to be open anytime soon, and the government is very careful and suspicious as well.’
The level of caution in the area is obvious. Barricades are set up at the portion of the highway near the former checkpoint, next to signs pointing towards St Petersburg, just 126 miles west.
Yet there are remnants of Russian influence. Small name key chains, written in the Cyrillic alphabet, remain untouched in the Vaalimaa shopping centre, lined up on hooks inside the expansive store.
Reminders of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia are dotted around outside as well.
A Ukrainian flag is painted on an electricity box just feet away from a Teboil petrol station – owned by a Russian oil company. But no cars stop to fill their tanks.
Russian name tag keepsakes lay untouched in the massive shopping centre (Picture: Sarah Hooper)
A Ukrainian flag was painted near a Russian-owned gas company’s station(Picture: Sarah Hooper)
The village where Russia is a few feet away
Nearer to the border, another form of Russian influence is more obvious. Finland’s newly erected 10-foot fence, topped with barbed wire, now lines a large portion of a 830-mile-long border with its unpredictable neighbour.
‘It’s for security, of course, but it would be useless against an invasion,’ Joel explains. ‘It’s not defensive in nature, and we’re not fortifying our border in the same style as the Baltic states are currently doing.’
Seven miles south of Vaalimaa and its ghost shopping centres is Kurkela, a village where houses lie yards away from Russian territory. Here, a small community of people live nearby, peacefully in their country homes.
A few homes dot the border between Russia and Finland (Graphic: Metro)
It’s silent as I walk on the gravel road through the village, but signs around me remind me of just how close I am to Europe’s most hostile neighbour.
Rows of Norway Spruces and birch trees sway in the wind, next to a blue and white striped border marker.
Bright yellow signs read: ‘Border zone: entry without permission prohibited.’
Blue signs remind visitors to the area that they are being monitored by border guards watching on surveillance cameras.
In the midst of the warning notices, Russia is visible just beyond Finland’s massive green border fence. The only break it offers is to a river that runs through the official border line, babbling quietly as it crosses over large rockss.
Over the fence, Russia builds forces
Large signs warning people not to enter the border zone (Picture: Sarah Hooper)
A river crosses into Russian territory from Finland (Picture: Sarah Hooper)
On the opposite side of where Metro stands, a large surge in Russian military activity was detected just three months ago.
In Kamenka, around 35 miles from Finnish territory, some 130 installations capable of housing 2,000 troops have been set up since February.
Satellite images revealed a significant increase in barracks, aircraft and other infrastructure at four locations near the frontier, which would be a major staging ground for a potential Russian attack on NATO.
The threat feels even closer this week, after Russian drones in Polish airspace prompted Poland’s prime minister to invoke NATO Article 4.
There are fears that similar actions could happen on the border with Finland if the security situation in Europe deteriorates.
Joel explains: ‘Russia is building new infrastructure and preparing to have the capability or capacity to boost their forces in the northwestern direction, near Finland and the Arctic, along our border.
‘Russia is preparing to have the capacity to do that in the future, but right now, they don’t have the capacity because of the war in Ukraine.’
A pending problem
In Kamenka, Russia, has been building housing complex for troops (Picture: Google Maps)
Though Putin is flexing his muscles on the border with Finland, Joel argues there are simply not enough resources for the country to focus on bolstering its presence until the war in Ukraine ends.
But slowly, Russia is re-establishing the Leningrad military district for defensive capabilities – likely in hopes of using it for an offensive if they have the ability to do so in the future.
Though the border between Finland and Russia is quiet now, Joel believes the area may become a problem in the medium to long term.
‘A lot of folks think that Finland is not the primary direction for Russia’s aggression. But if they see an opening in the Baltic states, they would have to somehow account for Finland as well because we’re right next to St. Petersburg,’ he explains.
‘Depending on how the war in Ukraine ends, it could be that Russia will free up its forces and try to reconstitute them here, and that would pose a problem for Finland, the Baltic states, and the Nordic states in general.’
Russia’s policy of aggression towards the West won’t change after the war in Ukraine ends, Joel adds – and NATO simply cannot drop the ball.
The future here is uncertain, but the border remains closed – and the shopping centres, once a focal point of cross-country interaction, remain empty.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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