Thread by @Based_FIN

🇫🇮 Finnish Border Guard Mikko Kallionpää shot the first Russian of the Winter War and he shot the first German of the Lapland War. #Talvisota

Mikko Kallionpää served in Finnish Border Guard in 1939. He served in Inari guard post, particular area Red Army crossed Finnish - Soviet border in first day of Winter War 30th of November 1939. One of Finnish border guards of the particular guard post spotted the Soviets

crossing the border. Kallionpää and few other border guards were sent to see, if the Soviets were crossing the border and run into, what were presumably the scouts in front of the advancing battalion. A Soviet soldier run right in front of him and

Kallionpää got ready to fire, but didn't do so, since shooting had previously been strictly banned from them. Instead he asked his fellow border guard if he was allowed to fire, but apparently his fellow guard didn't hear it. Also the Soviet noticed him, raised his rifle and

started aiming Kallionpää, at which point he decided to fire. The shooting distance was 8 meters so the bullet hit and killed the enemy soldier instantly. After firefight lasting about 10 minutes, the extremely outnumbered Finnish patrol retreated.

The first Finnish soldier to die in Winter War was Private Kalle Rajala, who was the only Finn killed in this particular battle. After this first firefight the Soviet reinforced battalion succeeded advancing about 20 kilometers to Finnish side of the border,

until smaller Finnish troops using methods of guarilla warfare succeeded halting it and wearing it out, until the battalion was forced to retreat back to Soviet side of the border.