Russian disinformation campaigns are heating up ahead of EU parliamentary elections, when hundreds of millions of Europeans will vote.
The Eurovision Song Contest and the Ice Hockey World Championships are also possible targets over the coming weeks, security experts told Yle, but so is any event where divisions can be exploited.
Thousands of bots on social media platform X recently called for the separation of politics and sports, following news that Latvia's Hockey Federation had suspended the licenses of players who participated in a Russian tournament opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Max Arhippainen, a Finn who works with Nato's strategic communications in Riga, the campaign targeting Latvian speakers was something new because Moscow has previously focused on spreading disinformation in major European languages. He said the Latvian case likely indicates that Russia increasingly seeks to influence smaller European language areas.
During Finland's Nato bid, Finnish social media accounts saw clumsy attempts by Russian trolls to sway public opinion against the defence alliance. Artificial intelligence is, however, developing rapidly, according to Arhippainen. He told Yle that there is a risk Russia could, in a couple of years, exact credible influencing campaigns in minority languages to achieve a greater influence.
That said, Hungary and Slovakia recently questioned EU aid for Ukraine. This critical position was preceded by Slovakia being swamped by disinformation ahead of its general elections last autumn.
"If a pro-Russian leadership were to gain power in Slovakia, it could influence EU decision-making. That's why I believe coordinated campaigns targeting small countries will continue," Arhippainen said.
Another tool employed by Russian trolls is to inundate fact-checkers around the world with false reports. The tactic has also been employed in Finland.
"We receive dozens of fake fact-checking requests via email every day," said Pipsa Havula, who runs Finnish fact-checking agency Faktabaari (FactBar).
Messages from trolls request fact-checking of pro-Russia claims and fabricated images, with subject matters ranging from the Paris Olympics to Ukrainian asylum seekers, as a means of clogging up fact-checkers' email inboxes and social media channels.
Russia has even fuelled concerns about Parisian bedbugs.
But Russia doesn't care where on the political spectrum it can drive a wedge into, according to Jakub Kalensky of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE).
"The Russians don't discriminate — they work with both the far right and the far left. At this point they're focusing on the far right because it has gained influence and support in Europe," CoE deputy director Kalensky said.
Russia's goal is not only to influence EU decisions but also to paralyse the whole decision-making process. On this front, Arhippainen mentions Germany as a case in point. While the country's leadership has condemned Russia's aggression since the beginning of the war, it has also hesitated at every turn to assist Ukraine, according to Arhippainen.
"If disinformation confuses decision-makers and the public to the extent that they can't make up their minds, it can be just as effective in achieving the desired outcome," he explained.
With European elections approaching, Russia will likely attempt to sow discord within Finnish society.
The Nato Centre's Arhippainen said that while there's a strong consensus on foreign and security policy in Finland, the country has other possible divisions that could be exploited.
"If you look at the labour market, I would argue that Finland is more internally fragmented and divided than it has been in decades," he said.