[The Guardian] Finland and Russia: a photo journey through the border zone

Finland and Russia: a photo journey through the border zone

Finland and Russia share more than 800 miles of land border, plus the archipelago sea in the Baltic region with tens of thousands of small islands. Until now, neutrality has been part of Finland’s security policy, but now it seems certain to apply for Nato membership. Travelling through Finland, we look at the places and people who have a special relationship with their Russian neighbour

Antti Kettunen, 44, runs through a slalom consisting of two orange pylons with his pistol drawn. Then, back at the starting point, he kneels behind a construction of two pallets, aims through a gap and hits the target more than eight meters away.

Behind him, intently, two women and six men watch as Kettunen moves. They have all volunteered to take part in reserve exercises. Kettunen, the trainer and chairman of the reserve association, is seeing some of them today for the first time. In a patch of forest about an hour away from Helsinki, weekly shooting exercises are held with four different types of weapons. Since 24 February this year, the reservist association in Vantaa has received more than 400 new members; at the beginning of the year, the entire association counted about 1,000 members.

Antti Kettunen, 44, the coach and chairman of the Vantaa Reservists Association.

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