In a civil defence shelter carved into rock, two Finnish conscripts in hazmat suits are measuring radiation levels during an exercise to prepare for emergencies. Inside, hundreds of people are sleeping on trestle beds as part of the largest civil defence drill in Europe since World War II, involving more than 2,000 participants, including volunteers and students.<\/p>\n
The scenario involves cyberattacks disrupting critical infrastructure in Kuopio, Finland, and the threat of missile strikes from Russia. The exercise aims to help local authorities and citizens practice their responses to potential attacks. While underground shelters may offer some protection, they cannot defend against the sabotage campaigns attributed to Russia, which include setting fires and attacking water and power facilities.<\/p>\n
Finland shares a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia. In 2024, Finland and Sweden joined NATO in response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, after years of preparing to defend themselves largely alone.<\/p>\n
Valuable lessons from Ukraine<\/strong><\/p>\n According to retired Army Colonel Asko Muhonen<\/strong>, Finland\u2019s defence relies not only on its military but also on the readiness of ordinary Finns to take responsibility for their country\u2019s security, bolstered by a system of conscription. \u201cIt\u2019s our duty to serve and protect this country, just as those before us did,\u201d conscript Jyry Pietikainen<\/strong>, 23, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Muhonen emphasised the need to learn from Ukraine, noting that while Kuopio\u2019s largest shelter can hold 7,000 people, Ukrainians often had only minutes to reach safety. This underscores the importance of accessible shelters that provide protection, even if they\u2019re not designed to withstand nuclear threats. He stated that proper training could have helped Ukrainians, who were unprepared for such events.<\/p>\n Juha R\u00e4s\u00e4nen<\/strong>, CEO of Savon Voima, highlighted that heavy snowfall and storms threaten the region\u2019s energy infrastructure. Since the invasion of Ukraine and the cessation of Russian biofuel purchases, cyberattacks on the network have surged. He reported the discovery of stickers on vulnerable parts of the energy network, without explanation for their presence. R\u00e4s\u00e4nen warned that an explosion in these areas could lead to disastrous consequences.<\/p>\n Drones have been spotted near power lines, but their operators remain unidentified. R\u00e4s\u00e4nen stressed the importance of individuals being prepared to sustain themselves for at least 72 hours during emergencies. The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service has investigated reports of unusual sightings but found no cause for concern, attributing many to everyday occurrences.<\/p>\n Finland\u2019s wars with the Soviet Union<\/strong><\/p>\n During its conflicts with the Soviet Union, Finland lost about 11% of its territory, leading over 400,000 people\u2014around 12% of the population\u2014to flee to areas now in western Russia. At the veterans\u2019 museum in Kuopio, 95-year-old Risto Mo\u0308nkko\u0308nen<\/strong> shared notes on the bombings in his city and the victims. \u201cI cannot forget it,\u201d he said, recalling how he and his father took shelter just before a bomb hit, killing five of his father\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n Pirkko Naukkarinen<\/strong>, now 102, remembered working in a field kitchen at age 16, where she often dove for cover during Soviet air attacks. Aili Toivanen<\/strong>, 92, described being forced to leave her home twice during the wars, each time given only an hour to pack. The first time, she saw her house burn, set on fire by Finnish soldiers. The second time, they had to jump from a bombed train and hide before reaching Kuopio. In tears, Aili shared her fear of having to leave her home again when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n At the Kuopio shelter, thousands of people, including schoolchildren and university students, gathered. Amanda Hill<\/strong>, an 11-year-old, noted, \u201cKids need to know this because they might have to act on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n Pietikainen, sitting with fellow conscripts, emphasised the importance of emergency preparedness, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re Finns, so we have a somewhat pessimistic outlook. History shows what can happen with Russia.\u201d <\/p>\n Muhonen added, \u201cDon\u2019t believe what [Russians] they say; observe what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n This article used information from The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a civil defence shelter carved into rock, two Finnish conscripts in hazmat suits are measuring radiation levels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1185265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[96586,14787,7694,148721,175194,2000,299,5187,769,321200,12264,321201,211515,2821,321202,41764,332,61056,657,321203,321204],"class_list":["post-1185264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-civil-defence","tag-cold-war","tag-critical-infrastructure","tag-cyberattacks","tag-emergencies","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-finland","tag-finnish-conscripts","tag-fires","tag-kuopio","tag-missile-strikes","tag-nato","tag-power-facilities","tag-radiation","tag-russia","tag-sabotage","tag-ukraine","tag-underground-shelters","tag-water-facilities"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117210533534942042","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1185265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}