Thread by @jmkorhonen

How would the Finnish Defence Forces fare against an invasion from the east? I've been following some Finnish volunteers in Ukraine, and noticed a pattern: they tend to think that Finland is better prepared than Ukraine was. I've translated one thread below.

Here is a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) by an anonymous Finnish volunteer who had been fighting since the beginning of the war, lately near Kharkov. There is no way to corroborate what he is saying, but it fits an overall pattern.

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

He notes in the thread that he used to be a "pacifist hippie" and has no prior soldiering experience, except the conscript training in the FDF, which he received in the Guards Jaeger Regiment in Helsinki.

He says he was an "urban Jaeger", meaning the training focused on fighting in built-up areas. In pictures, he has the Guards Jaeger Regiment patch in his battle gear. He implies he had civilian paramedic training and now works as a combat medic.

An obvious question many asked is how well the training prepared him for combat. "Only after I got there, I learned to properly appreciate the quality of FDF. I would even argue that the FDF is one of the most cost-effective armies after Israel."

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"Finnish conscript training goes a long way here and Finnish reservists are pretty desired in any [ukrainain] unit."

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

He also notes that the neo-colonialist "War on Terror" has taught many Americans and NATO allies some bad habits. "Americans and other NATO volunteers don't really know how to fight in a war where they don't have complete air superiority."

"Especially at the beginning of the war [foreign volunteers from U.S. and NATO countries] were plentiful, but most left after the first missile and air strikes. A Finnish soldier expects that the enemy has air superiority, and we are trained accordingly."

He is in an independent unit fully manned by Finnish volunteers. Relative to population, he thinks Finns are the most numerous volunteers.

While he acknowledges that what he says sounds jingoistic, he claims the Finnish units are nevertheless among the most efficient foreign volunteer units in the fight.

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

When asked if he has faith in the FDF's ability to repel an invasion, he says he used to think the Russian army was a threat, but after seeing what a paper tiger it is, he says he has no doubts the FDF would win.

"If Finland received similar material support that Ukraine has received, there would be no Russian unit operational inside Finnish borders within two weeks or so of an invasion."

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

The Russian morale is terrible. Hence they have to send their officers to the front to get anything done. The most effective way to neutralize a Russian unit is to take out the leadership, which practically disables the rest of the unit.

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

He also notes that the Russians attack according to rigid schedules, whether that makes sense or not.

His experiences about the Ukrainian military are mixed: their morale is unshakeable, comparable to Finnish morale during the Winter War, and the younger leaders are excellent.

But older ones, trained in the Soviet model, are mostly incompetent (he says he and the unit he is in almost got killed because of one's stupidity). There is also a "shocking" shortage of non-commissioned officers - on both sides.

"A common joke among the Finns here is that if the Ukrainian armed forces had even half of the professionalism the FDF has, we would be now drinking victory coffee in Moscow."

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

He says they have tried to teach what they know, especially about operating without air superiority, but "sometimes it's been like banging one's head against a wall" and "learning usually requires someone to die first".

He gives as an example: a large "tent village" where the tents were neatly lined up so that the commander could easily find his men. The Finns were obviously horrified and for a week tried to explain that everything needs to be dispersed and hidden under trees.

The commander wouldn't hear of it, and the Finns "did what we do best": went to the forest where they dug deep foxholes and slept in them, without tents.

That was a source of great amusement to other foreign volunteers.

Until a missile strike hit a neighbouring tent village, leaving not many survivors.

reddit.com/r/Suomi/commen…

Again, I have no way of verifying what he is saying, but I note that the pattern here is familiar from other comments and past experience. Properly done, a conscript-based military can produce effective enough forces.

Thanks to every professional in the FDF for a job well done!

PS. he believes Ukraine will definitely win this war if they just get enough weapons. So keep them coming!

PPS. Many have interpreted this guy's comments as dismissive against the Ukrainians. I don't believe that has been his intention. He is just being Finnish - remember we don't have a word for 'please' :)