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Number of Russians coming to Finland doubles in a week

The Border Guard says there has been a 107 percent increase over the course of a week.

Auto tulossa Suomeen Venöjältä Nuijamaan rajanylityspaikalla
Vehicles queuing to enter Finland at the Nuijamaa border crossing on Thursday. Image: Kare Lehtonen / Yle
  • Yle News

Traffic at border crossings into Finland was increasingly busy on Thursday night, according to the Border Guard in Southeast Finland.

On Thursday 7,003 people crossed border points in the region, just under 6,000 of whom were Russian citizens, according to the agency.

On Wednesday the tally was around 3,700 crossings, out of whom 2,900 were Russian.

The agency said it recorded a 107 percent increase in such crossings over the course of a week.

Crossing points are expected to remain busy on Friday as long traffic queues have formed.

The increase in people entering the country is widely thought to be linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recently-announced plans to partially mobilise 300,000 military reservists to take part in the country's invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday morning, the Southeast Finland Border Guard tweeted that vehicle queues at the crossings in Vaalimaa and Nuijamaa were longer than on Thursday, with about 500 metres of cars lined up ahead of the Vaalimaa crossing. The agency said conditions were calm at the Imatra border crossing station.

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