Keijo Turkia, who has lived all her life 400 meters from the Finnish-Russian border, is not worried about the news about asylum seekers crossing the eastern border over the terrain.
To the apple tree from where he was found. The neighbor was taking out the trash when he clearly noticed a stranger from outside the village picking apples.
“The Border Guard was called, and they came to pick up the man. Apparently, the man then applied for asylum,” says the person who lives next to the apple tree Marja Rekanen.
“The man had crossed the border from there through the forest. Would that be 3–4 years from now”, he says on the other hand Eero Kyckling.
“Ten years ago, Afghans came through the forest, were there four men,” he continues.
The apple tree near which the man who crossed the eastern border through the terrain was found.
Road sign in Nurmela village.
Finland the eastern border has been closed since December 15. This week, however, it was reported that 15 people crossed the border.
On Thursday, 11 Iranian men crossed the eastern border through the terrain from the area between Nuijamaa and Joutseno. On Wednesday, four people crossed the border near the Parikkala border crossing.
In addition to them, in December, right after the Vaalimaa border crossing was closed, two people crossed border crossing without permission.
HS drove along small roads from the Vaalimaa border crossing to Nuijamaa and asked the residents of the areas what they think about the current situation on the eastern border.
Neighbors Marja Rekanen and Eero Kyckling spend a quiet day in Nurmela.
We do not we know how to be afraid, say Rekanen and Kyckling as if from one voice.
“However, I keep the doors locked now, unlike before,” says Rekanen.
Rekanen and Kyckling live in the small village of Nurmela, right on the southeastern edge of Lappeenranta. It is about 800 meters from Rekanen to the border between Finland and Russia. A few hundred meters less than Kyckling's home.
“The family has lived here since the 1730s,” says Kyckling.
Kyckling has made many trips to Russia in the past. Now, however, both he and Rekanen are of the opinion that it would be better to keep the eastern border closed as long as the current situation continues.
“People are friendly, but the system is rotten,” Kyckling states.
The highest peaks of the forest visible behind Lake Salajärvi in the background are on the Russian side.
Border guards' hut near the border. The border region between the previously busy border crossings of Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa is quiet.
Although Reka or Kyckling are not afraid, they are also worried about the future of the border and the eastern neighbor.
“There are people ready on the other side of the border. We'll see what happens when the snow melts. There's nothing but a barbed wire fence at the border,” Kyckling reflects.
“I don't think this will end,” Rekanen says.
What do Rekanen and Kyckling think about it if the situation on the border between Finland and Russia escalates to the same extent as on the border between Poland and Belarus, where migrants trying to cross the border through the terrain have died?
“Finnish decision-makers don't dare to leave people to die,” says Kyckling.
Irma and Mikko Maattola own a cottage near the eastern border. The news about asylum seekers crossing the border via terrain does not worry them.
“Let's go in, it's cold,” Fairy Turkey says.
Turkia has just returned home from a shopping trip in the center of Lappeenranta.
“On the way, I saw the Border Guard helicopter going in the direction of Nuijamaa. Earlier, another flew over the house.”
Keijo Turkia, 80, lives alone in the village of Keskisaari on the farm where she was also born, and from which she had to go to a shelter when she was six months old.
Turkey lives right on the border between Finland and Russia, between the Vainikkala and Nuijamaa border crossings. The journey to the national border is only about 400 meters from here.
When you look at the horizon from the window of the hut, the tallest trees are already in Russia, he says. You can also see the border posts from the window: the posts that literally separate Finland and Russia from each other. They go from the top of the rock to the middle of the forest.
“A border fence will be built at that point,” Turkia says, referring to the border fence construction project planned for the eastern border.
“There is a forest on the other side of the border,” he says.
In Keijo Turkey's boiler house, a large firebox heats the 3,000-liter storage tank with its own wood.
No Even Turkey is afraid to live near the border, even though 15 people have crossed the border by land this week.
“It's safe when I've lived here all my life. I have also kept the doors open at night. However, I don't know if we should start keeping the cabin door locked now,” he says.
“They must be looking for a better life,” Turkey thinks about asylum seekers.
Life at the border is familiar to Turkey. Only as a baby has he had to spend a while elsewhere. It was the last year of the Continuation War and the family had to go to Laitila as an evacuation center for half a year.
“I built this house in 1986 with my brother. The former was cold,” he says.
The helicopter flying above the Turkish house.
In Turkey enough stories from past decades. How when you were young you used to hang out with the soldiers of the watchtower that was on the Russian side at the time, or when you were a little older, the sounds of the Victory Day celebrations, for which kids were shot near the border to be eaten.
“I think a helicopter is coming now,” Turkia suddenly says.
The sound starts as an almost imperceptible hum. Little by little, it gets stronger, and finally the helicopter coming from the direction of the Vainikkala border station comes into view and curves over the Turkish house.
“Finnish and Russian helicopters can be distinguished by the sound,” Turkey says.
“Russian helicopters make a much louder noise.”
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