KUOPIO, Finland — Deep inside a granite shelter designed to withstand nuclear or biological attack, Finnish conscripts in hazmat suits measure radiation as part of Europe’s largest civil defense exercise since the Cold War. The drill, unfolding in the central Finnish city of Kuopio, involves more than 2,000 volunteers, students, and local authorities rehearsing for a scenario where cyberattacks cripple power and water supplies and missile strikes loom from neighboring Russia.
The exercise marks a historic return to large-scale civil defense preparedness in Europe, where such drills largely faded after the Soviet Union collapsed. But Finland’s 830-mile border with Russia and its recent NATO accession have sharpened the need to prepare ordinary citizens for the possibility of attack.
Inside the shelter, which doubles as a sports hall in peacetime, hundreds of people slept overnight on trestle beds. Schoolchildren and university students filed through during the day, learning how to respond if the unthinkable happens.
History Shapes Preparedness
Retired Army Colonel Asko Muhonen, who organized the exercise, said Finland’s defense relies heavily on the mindset of its people — a willingness to take responsibility for national security. That ethos, he explained, stems from a conscription system that continued even after the Cold War ended.
“It’s our duty to serve and protect this country like people have before us. That’s why we have our independence,” said Jyry Pietikainen, 23, a conscript learning to manage the Kuopio shelter overnight.
Finland’s history is never far from the surface. In wars with the Soviet Union, the country lost about 11% of its territory and over 400,000 people — roughly 12% of its population — fled their homes. Veterans and survivors still bear the scars. At Kuopio’s veterans’ museum, Risto Monkkonen, 95, showed a journalist a list he compiled of bombing dates and victims in the city. “I cannot forget it,” he said, recalling how he and his father ran into a shelter as a bomb killed five of his father’s friends.
Pirkko Naukkarinen, 102, worked as a 16-year-old in a field kitchen near the front lines, sharing dugouts with soldiers and diving for cover from Soviet aircraft. Aili Toivanen, 92, said she was forced to flee twice — the first time after Finnish soldiers set her home ablaze to leave nothing behind, the second when Soviet planes bombed a train carrying her family. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, she said with tears, she worried she might have to leave home a third time.
Lessons from Ukraine
Muhonen said Finland must learn from Ukraine’s experience. While Kuopio’s largest shelter can hold 7,000 people, Ukrainians often have only minutes to reach safety — usually a subway station or underground parking garage. That reality suggests shelters need to be easily accessible and offer basic protection, not necessarily nuclear-hardened, he said.
Ukrainian student Dmytro Untila, 20, knows that urgency firsthand. He was in Odesa on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian missiles struck. With no training, he sheltered in the entrance hall of his apartment building. “Nobody knew this could happen,” he said, adding that such preparation would have helped.
Finland’s exercises also reflect a broader European concern about Russian sabotage. Western officials have reported fires, attacks on water and power facilities, and drones entering EU airspace. In Finland, energy companies have found suspicious stickers on infrastructure, and drones have been spotted near power lines. Juha Räsänen, CEO of Savon Voima electricity company, said engineers discovered at least 10 stickers on vulnerable energy network components last year; other companies have found similar marks, though their origin remains unknown. “If there was an explosion at that point, it could destroy a whole dam,” he warned.
Räsänen said the biggest everyday threat to Finland’s energy infrastructure is weather — heavy snowfall and storms — but since the invasion of Ukraine, cyberattacks have surged. The company stopped buying Russian biofuel, and attacks on its network increased significantly.
Not all reports of sabotage have been confirmed. Finland’s Security and Intelligence Service said it investigated a range of observations and found nothing concerning, attributing many reports to increased vigilance since 2022. Reflective stickers often turned out to be land survey marks, and drone sightings were “largely explained by everyday occurrences,” the agency said.
A Nation on Guard
For many Finns, the quiet threats are constant. Vuokko Lahtinen, 32, visiting a sauna in Kuopio, noted that “small things are happening all the time,” including Russian jamming of GPS signals. She believes Finland’s best defense is making the country “not worth attacking.” That depends not just on the military but on a citizenry that feels it has something to fight for.
“There is a general feeling of responsibility in Finland,” Lahtinen said, pointing to community groups and even recycling initiatives. “On a very simple daily level, if you do things that matter, then it has a butterfly-wing effect.”
At the Kuopio shelter, 11-year-old Amanda Hill spent the day learning emergency procedures with her school. “Kids would need to know this, because they might have to do something alone. The adults can’t always help,” she said.
Conscript Pietikainen acknowledged that preparing for war can seem strange, but history offers a clear lesson. “We’re Finns, so we’re kind of pessimistic about life in a way,” he said. Still, he added, the past shows what can happen with Russia.
Muhonen offered a blunt warning: “Don’t believe what they say but observe what they do.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/03/finland-runs-europes-biggest-civil-defense-exercise-since-cold-war/