Since Finland joined NATO in 2023, Russia has strengthened its military bases on the border with the Scandinavian country. The satellite images show the installation of new camps, the arrival of new vehicles or the construction of new hangars. Some bases, abandoned have been cleared. Here are the before/after images that show these changes.
Here is the border between Russia and Finland. It is 1340 kilometers long. Since Finland joined NATO in 2023, the defense of the two countries has been strengthening on both sides of this line. Focus on the Russian military bases.
Russia sees Finland’s membership in NATO as a threat. Since the start of this year, the country has strengthened its bases. New materials, new infrastructure… satellite images show it.
Let’s start with the south of the border with the bases of Kamenka and the city of Petrozavodsk.
It is in Kamenka that the changes are the most visible. While this base has been unused since 2022, more than a hundred tents have been installed since February 2025.
According to France 24, the base is now capable of welcoming 2,000 soldiers. New warehouses and a helicopter base have also been built, the renovated hunting shelters, explains the New York Times which affirms that the images were confirmed by NATO.
A little further east, in Petrozavodsk, four large storage halls have been built which can be able to house up to 50 armored vehicles.
We are now heading north of the border, in the Mourmansk region. This is where “most of the most important and most active bases are found on the military,” said Emil Kastehelmi on X, Finnish military analyst.
He recalls that in June 2022, during the announcement of the membership of Finland at NATO, Russia announced its intention to “repair” several air bases in the North. “The work has started,” said the expert.
In Olenya, there are no significant changes in the infrastructure. On the other hand, the number of devices has increased. “Russia has moved numerous strategic bombers TU-95 on the ground during the war (in Ukraine) to protect them from drone strikes,” continues Emil Kastehelmi on X on May 7, 2025.
But despite this, a month later, some of these devices were affected during a Ukrainian attack counts the specialist in the Finnish study group Black Birds.
A little further north, near the border with Norway, the Severomorsk-1 base has only experienced changes at the level of its hunting shelters located east of the field. Some of them were repaired in 2023 and 2024, notes Emil Kastehelmi.
Finally, in Severomorsk-2 which had been closed since 1998, the activities have taken up since 2022. The tracks have been cleared, helicopters appeared. Shelters have also been built. “Currently, fighter planes cannot operate from the base, but that could change in the future,” comments Emil Kastehelmi.
Should we worry? When Russia had strengthened its bases in February 2022 on the Ukrainian border, it began war a few days later. But here, the situation is different depending on the experts. “We are far from the dynamics that that which served as a prelude to the invasion of Ukraine”, analyzes Yannick Quéau, director of grip, the research and information group on peace and security.
“Since Finland joined NATO, it has logical and expected to see adjustments both on the Finnish side and on the Russian side of the border. Finland benefits from additional support from its allies and it has also learned from the invasion of Ukraine to consolidate its border and territorial defense.”
“On the Russian side, it must be understood that power lives in fear of NATO intervention which openly designates it as a strategic adversary. Russia therefore strengthens its presence at the borders of a new member of a considerable military alliance built against it. Russian deployments in this area should also grow substantially in the coming years if the Russian defense has its capacity. humans that materials remain mainly sucked in by the conflict in Ukraine, “concludes Yannick Quéau.
