Between 1918 and 1944, Finland made several attempts to invade Russia, only to be humbled, time and again, by Russian defenders.

Finland’s efforts to defeat Russia and annex Russian lands was a product of several factors, explains Dmitry Astashkin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ St. Petersburg Institute of History.

1. Fresh from obtaining its independence in 1918, Finland was eager to expand its borders in Karelia region. The creation of this so-called ‘Greater Finland’ was regarded as a historic mission by some,
2. Finnish elites in 1918 actually believed that their aggression amounted to bringing civilization to the ‘savages’ in eastern lands.
3. There was also cold pragmatism involved: with Soviet Russia being torn apart by the Civil War, Finland anticipated an easy victory.

Aggressive and Expansionist: True Face of WWII-Era Finland

Finland’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II was also anything but a mere attempt to reclaim what was lost during the Winter War.

• Slavic people in Russian territories occupied by Finland were herded into a robust network of prisons and concentration camps promptly created by the Finnish invaders.

• Civilians – including women, children and the elderly – in these camps had to endure cold, starvation and forced labor. In 1942, the monthly death rate among the inmates of just one such camp in Petrozavodsk was 500-600.

• Finnish treatment of the Soviet POW’s was no better, with about 30% of the prisoners (some 20,000 people) perishing.

• In the meantime, Finnish leadership attempted indoctrination among the local indigenous groups such as the Karel and Veps people, trying to convert them into willing subjects of the “Greater Finland.”

• Finnish troops eagerly helped the Nazis starve the people of Leningrad to death, with Finnish propaganda branding the city as a ‘symbol of death.

Sputnik / ABC Flash Point News 2026.