As Russia threats loom, Finland's people are learning to shoot back

KERAVA, Finland -- Unsettled by Russia's expansionism and emboldened by its recent accession to NATO, Finland is rallying to strengthen its national self-defense beyond its traditional military capabilities.

The popularity of weapons training in the Nordic country has soared in recent months. Few places tell the story of the rise in Finnish affinity for self-defense more than shooting ranges that are riding a boom of interest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine — another big Russian neighbor — in February 2022 continues to resonate in many Finnish minds, and partially explains the ballistics binge.

The Vantaa Reservist Association, which operates a gun range in a warehouse once used to make sex toys, in Kerava, north of Helsinki, has more than doubled its membership over the last two years and now counts over 2,100 members.

“They have something in the back of their head ringing that this is the skill I have to learn now,” said association chairman Antti Kettunen, standing among bullet-riddled targets. “I think that the wind has changed, now it’s blowing from the east.”

Earlier this year, the coalition government announced plans to open more than 300 new ranges — a big jump from the 670 in operation today.

Authorities are encouraging citizens to take up interest in national defense in the country with a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, where firing shots in ice hockey has been more of a pastime than shooting bullets.

“Interest in national defense is traditionally very high in Finland and especially these days with the Russian aggression on Ukraine, the interest has risen even more,” lawmaker Jukka Kopra, who chairs Finland’s defense committee, told AP earlier in December.

Inspired largely by concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance last year. Western neighbor Sweden followed suit in March. The two countries last month announced plans to boost their civil defense strategies, without mentioning Russia by name.

The surge in self-defense strategies doesn’t stop at shooting ranges.

The National Defense Training Association says it has hosted a collective total of 120,000 training days this year, more than double the number three years ago.

The national reservists' association, which is about 90% composed of military reservists but also some hobbyists, has grown by more than two-thirds to over 50,000 members since the invasion of Ukraine.

And unlike some other European countries, Finland has kept around 50,000 Cold-War era civil defense shelters, which could accommodate roughly 85% of the population of about 5.5 million people.

"This is the new era of civil defense shelters, which is against the newest developments of war,” said Tomi Rask, of Helsinki Rescue Services, during a recent tour of one shelter in the capital. “We know that all of our neighbors have the capability of harming us, of harming our citizens, and we think that we need to prepare.”

Wearing camouflage at the range in Kerava, military reservists and firearm hobbyists bob and weave their way through an obstacle course, at times opening fire with deafening Glock handguns against human-shaped targets.

“Some people do this just for fun,” said member Miikka Kallio, a 38-year-old firefighter. “Some (do) maybe because of our eastern neighbor: I’ve heard comments that they’ve joined the reservists because of the Russian attack (on Ukraine.)”

Finland is no stranger to tensions with Russia and a big part of the country's national identity was forged battling its eastern neighbor - gaining independence from the Russian empire in 1917 and then fending off a large Soviet force with its tiny, ill-equipped army in what become known as the Winter War at the start of the Second World War.

Kettunen said learning to shoot guns is a bit like learning to swim: Both require training and preparation.

“When you need to know how to shoot or swim, and you don’t, it’s too late,” he said.