Tomi 🇺🇦🇫🇮 Profile picture
Ordinary finnish guy interested in history, politics and military. Following closely the events of the war in Ukraine. https://t.co/nqw7HBa1ns
Feb 7 6 tweets 2 min read
Finland has a network of secret bunkers ready for war.

There are hundreds of such fortresses in Finland. They have been built over the decades, and more are being built every year.

#Finland #nato
Image
Image
Finnish Defence Forces do not build fortresses only in a chain along the eastern border, they are also being built inland in strategic locations that could be targeted by the enemy's long range capabilites.
Jan 2 18 tweets 7 min read
Biggest battle in the history of Nordic countries took place in terrain between the villages of Tali & Ihantala on Karelian Isthmus, June 25 - July 9, 1944.

The major Finnish defensive victory was the key event that convinced USSR to abandon their plans ton annex Finland. 🧵 Image Few days before the start of the battle in Ihantala-area, the city of Vyborg fell faster than expected on June 20, 1944.

The Finns were able to stop the enemy's advance to the west side of the city at Tienhaara after blowing up the bridges crossing the waterway.
Dec 18, 2023 11 tweets 4 min read
In November 1943, commanders of the Finnish 1st Division decided to form a strike force that could be used in toughest & most difficult situations on short notice.

Jaeger company of about 150 to 160 men was formed.

Lieutenant Lauri Törni was appointed as the company leader. 🧵 Image Unit consisted of soldiers with front-line experience & had plenty of light automatic weapons.

Core of the company were familiar men from Törni's old units.

Törni hand picked every member into his group of elite soldiers, which became a "operational fist" of the 1st Division.
Dec 16, 2023 19 tweets 5 min read
Finnish companion in arms with Germans during World War II has become today's political pawn when Russia tries to paint Finland as an enemy.

Topic is undeniably controversial, to understand it you have to dive deeper into the causes and consequences. 🧵

#Finland #WW2 Image Finland entered the Continuation War from completely different starting points than Winter War.

Winter War was the result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany (23 August 1939.

Continuation War (1941-45) was a continuation of the Winter War.
Nov 26, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Today, 26.11.23, 84 years have passed from Mainila shots that led to the Winter War

The Soviets staged an incident on the Finnish border, which the country used as an excuse to unilaterally dissolve the non-aggression pact between Finland and the Soviet Union

#Russia #Finland Image Four days later, the Soviet Union invaded Finland.

The Soviet Union claimed that in the border village of Mainila in Valkeasaari, four soldiers of the border forces who were training had been killed by artillery and mortar fire fired from the Finnish side.
Oct 16, 2023 22 tweets 10 min read
What would happen if 🇷🇺 invaded 🇫🇮 today?

Interesting scenario.

I have made some research on this topic for some time & collected info to write a thread about it.

Im not a professional, if there are some experts reading this, feel free to correct.

Lets leave NATO out of it. Image Let's begin with statistics.

Invading 🇷🇺 force would have to be about 4 times stronger to be able to challenge 🇫🇮

🇫🇮 has a wartime strenght of 280k troops & 900k strong reserve. It means that 🇷🇺 would have to mobilize around million men to get the upper hand in numbers. Image
Sep 29, 2023 10 tweets 4 min read
If Russia attempted a full scale invasion in Finland today, they would face even tougher conditions than they are currently facing in Ukraine today.

I'll tell you why in this short thread 🧵

#Finland #Russia #NATO Image As we have seen in Ukraine, russian military doctrine relies on massed armor, heavy artillery & sheer numbers. Troops are poorly led & strategies are almost non existent.

This would work even worse in Finland than it currently works in Ukraine for many reasons. Image
Mar 23, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
In Finnish media MTV's interview, President Niinistö commented on the heated discussion considering Hornet-jets.

Ukraine has been in contact with Finland regarding the fighter jets after the possible Hornet discussion came up.

#Hornets #Finland #Ukraine Image " I find it quite natural that Ukrainians are interested.

After all, there were reactions in the media where the situation was a bit exaggerated.

But if the title "fighter jet" is on display at all, then of course they will follow what is happening in Finland or elsewhere "
Mar 23, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
According to the information obtained by Finnish media Helsingin Sanomat (HS), Ukraine has submitted a request to Finland for trilateral discussions on fighter jets between Finland, Ukraine and the United States.

#Finland #Ukraine #Hornets Image The request came after Marin discussed with Zelensky the possibility of handing over the outgoing Hornet fighters.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (sd) met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv earlier in March. Image
Mar 22, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Situation in #Bakhmut is pretty much the same as it has been for at least a week now.

Wagner is bashing it's head against the Ukrainian defences, achieving minor gains now & then, AFU conducts local counter attacks.

Street fighting continues in southern suburbs. AFU again conducted successful small scale counter attacks in the direction of Chasiv Yar to push the enemy further from the road, defence of Ivanivske is holding.

Frontline is very fluid on the open terrain south of Ivanivske.
Mar 10, 2023 19 tweets 9 min read
FROM CIVILIAN TO SOLDIER.

In this thread, I'll explain briefly how the Finnish conscription works.

From rookie to being an expert of his/her branch of service.

#Finland #FinnishArmy Image According to the Constitution of Finland every Finnish citizen is obligated to participate in national defence.

Every male Finnish citizen aged 18-60 is liable for military service, and women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis.
Mar 8, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
One notable change in otherwise repetitive report by AFU General Staff:

Assaults repelled in Klishchiivka.

This means that Ukrainian counter attacks on the southern side of Ivanivske have been successful 💪

Trying to find more info about the situation.

#Bakhmut Image
Mar 5, 2023 12 tweets 4 min read
The reinforcements that Ukraine sent to Bakhmut seem to have stabilized the situation, no proof of any new russian advances during the last 24 hours, russian "pincer" is still around 5km wide.

Strategic bridges over the Bakhmutovka river are blown up, attacks are being repelled ImageImage Russians have not been able to physically cut the Chasiv Yar - Khromove road but it has reportedly been in the range of russian ATGM's for few days already. The bridge over the creek in the vicinity of Vosʹmyy pond was destroyed 2 days ago, not sure was it done by russians or AFU ImageImage
Mar 4, 2023 9 tweets 3 min read
Russians (and some pro Ukraine sources as well) are claiming that AFU has started to withdraw from #Bakhmut.

Ukrainian authorities, deputy mayor of Bakhmut for example deny this & say that Ukrainians are still fighting for Bakhmut.

Fog of war is dense.

#UkraineRussianWar Mainly pro russian sources are sharing pictures & video of allegedly ukrainian soldiers allegedly retreating from Bakhmut.

We should not base our view of the situation on these. ImageImage
Jan 31, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
After hearing the reports of new possible major offensive and 200 000 fresh russian troops I think its time to admit that I was wrong.

I thought in fall 2022, when we witnessed the succesful ukrainian counteroffensives, that Russia was losing the war and thats it. But the reality is that Russia CAN still win this war if the West hesitates too much.

That is my fear, when I hear that some of the leaders still speak about the danger of escalation.

Russias victory in Ukraine would be a disaster to us all, not just Ukraine.
Jan 31, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
New photos show that russians completely destroyed Koivisto's (Primorsk) Finnish hero's cemetery.

All the memorials and nameplates are gone, Finland didn't even receive any kind of notification about this. 🤬

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#RussiaIsANaziState Image The Koivisto hero's cemetery dispute may be just the beginning of a wider threat of demolition of Finnish grave monuments in Russia. This is evident from the written responses from Moscow.
Jan 31, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg estimated on Tuesday in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, that Russia intends to mobilize as many as 200,000 new soldiers to Ukraine.

In his view, President Vladimir Putin does not seem to be preparing for peace, but the opposite. ImageImage "We see them preparing for ever greater warfare; that they are mobilizing more and more soldiers, more than 200,000 men and potentially even more"
Jan 31, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
#Russia always tries to convince the world that they have the cutting edge technology that no one else has. They make alot of noise about their "wunderwaffes"

But in reality, USA & the West develop their own, truly working systems in silence. msn.com/en-us/news/wor… We don't see any of these russian wonderweapons in real action. There is not any kind of proof that they even exist on operational level.

Its very possible that they are just propaganda, without real possibility of them even entering service.
Dec 22, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
Finnish Major General Pekka Toveri:

"I can't understand why the United States and Europe put restrictions on the arms aid to Ukraine.

Russia violates all international agreements and legal rules of war, freely destroys and kills the civilian population."

#UkraineRussianWar "Then the defender is not given the opportunity to deny Russia's destruction of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.

Russia, on the other hand, is able to manufacture more missiles despite the lack of components, because the sanctions are leaking."
Dec 21, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Vladimir Putin in his todays speech:

Russia is increasing its "military potential" & Russians are fighting like "heroes of previous wars."

According to Putin, Russia's important task is to develop the armed forces.

#UkraineWar Image He claimed thet there are no restrictions on the funding of the armed forces and the armed forces would get everything they ask for.

Among other things, Putin promised that the strategic forces would be equipped with modern weapons and that all plans would be implemented.
Dec 21, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
Wagner PMC's founder Yevgeni Prigozhin has tried to raise the status of his group with a visible role in battle of Bakhmut.

"He has an aspiration to rise to a more politically relevant position."

- Finnish Major General Pekka Toveri 🧵

#UkraineRussianWar ImageImage Private army Wagner has taken a hard line in Ukraine:

"Inexperienced criminals recruited from prison go to the front line.

The losses are huge. But if your own leaders don't care, that can be done.

Fear of the punishments is so severe that there have been few refusals."