Russian authorities announced Thursday that they had strengthened security measures in the Murmansk region (Northwest), bordering Finland, after Helsinki’s decision to leave only one border crossing open with Russia.
“It was decided to implement in the Murmansk region the high alert regime and a number of additional measures aimed at ensuring the safety of our residents,” regional governor Andrei Chibis said on Telegram.
This announcement comes after the decision taken the day before by Finland to keep only one border crossing open with Russia, Raja-Jooseppi, on the border with the Murmansk region, in the Russian Arctic.
Finland had already closed four of its eight border crossing points in the southeast of the country with Russia on Saturday in order to stem the arrival of undocumented migrants.
“This means that the number of foreign nationals wishing to cross into the NATO country via our territory will increase significantly,” said Mr. Tchibis.
According to him, around 400 foreign nationals gathered on Wednesday at the Salla crossing point, in the northern part of the border between the two countries, only 50 of them having been authorized to pass by the Finnish border guards.
Finland, which joined NATO in April in response to Russia’s assault on Ukraine, has accused Russia of letting undocumented migrants cross their shared border.
The country, which shares a 1,340 km border with Russia, says it has seen an influx of visa-free migrants from the Middle East and Africa, particularly Iraq, Somalia and Yemen, since the end of August.
On Saturday, Helsinki closed four border crossing points in southeastern Finland with Russia until February 18, 2024, with four others remaining open in the north of the country.
The European Commission supported the Helsinki decision, denouncing a “shameful exploitation” of migrants by Moscow, accusations rejected on Monday by the Kremlin.
