NATO’s expansion eastward, TOWARD Russia’s border<\/p>\n
Finland has said it expects Russia to further build up troops along their shared border when the war in Ukraine ends, after reports that Moscow had strengthened its military bases near the Nato frontier.<\/p>\n
Maj Gen Sami Nurmi, the head of strategy of the Finnish defence forces, said the military is following Moscow\u2019s manoeuvring \u201cvery closely\u201d and that it was their job, as part of the Nato<\/a> alliance, to \u201cprepare for the worst\u201d.<\/p>\n The Finnish border guard announced on Wednesday it had completed the first 35km (22 miles) of a planned 200km fence on its eastern border with Russia, which has been closed for more than a year after Helsinki accused Moscow of directing asylum seekers to Finland in a \u201chybrid operation<\/a>\u201d. The fence also uses cameras and sensors to distinguish between people and animals crossing<\/p>\n Satellite images, published in the New York Times<\/a>, appear to show an expansion of military infrastructure near the Finnish border, including rows of tents, military vehicles, renovations to fighter jet shelters and construction on a previously unused helicopter base.<\/p>\n Nurmi said: \u201cThey are changing structures and we are seeing moderate preparations when it comes to building infrastructure close to our borders, meaning that they will, once the war in Ukraine<\/a> hopefully ends, start to bring back the forces that have been fighting in Ukraine, especially land forces.\u201d<\/p>\n