At a military training ground in eastern Ukraine, soldiers exchange a few words in English in between firing rounds of ammunition at practice targets.
An old Italian partisan song blares in the distance as a man, who goes by the callsign Finn, commands the unit.
Finn is Finnish, as his callsign suggests, but grew up in Sweden and speaks Finnish with a noticeable accent. Finn's right hand is tattooed with a Finnish lion.
Finn has fought in Ukraine for the past three years. He completed his military service in Finland as part of the Pori Brigade — the Finnish Defence Forces unit which trains conscripts for international crisis management missions.
"We can't let Russia do what it wants. It was time to show that enough is enough," Finn told Yle, as a way of explaining his decision to fight in Ukraine.
Finn, who used to work as a welder, was shocked when he read about Russian atrocities in Bucha and Mariupol. He quickly decided to go to Ukraine.
Finn recalled his experience in a number of high-profile battles in the conflict, including the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the southern part of the country in the summer of 2023.
"Our unit was one of the first to attack. It was a terribly difficult place. There were mines everywhere," he said.
Many of Finn's comrades-in-arms are now dead. He was nearly killed after coming under artillery fire during the Battle of Bakhmut and spent many months in hospital. His hearing has still not fully returned to one ear.
"Four men have died under my command. I think it would be wrong to pack up and say, 'That's it,'" he said.
Honouring the fallen
Five hundred kilometres to the west, small Ukrainian flags fly side-by-side in Kyiv's Maidan Square.
People began placing flags in this hallowed public square to honour soldiers who died in the early days of the war. More and more foreign flags, including Finnish ones, began to appear among these memorials as the war stretched on.
Another Finnish soldier, known as Mikko, places another Finnish flag into the sea of others. He is carrying an extract from the diary of his fallen Finnish comrade.
"It is now the duty of peaceful nations to stand up and make it clear that we will not allow this to continue. The line must be drawn somewhere. For me it is here. Let the universe watch my progress with benevolence," the diary from the fallen soldier reads.
He died in combat last year.
"The guy was a romantic," Mikko told Yle, adding that he wondered how his fallen comrade ended up fighting in Ukraine.
Mikko is not the soldier's real name and Yle has decided to conceal his true identity for security reasons.
Concerns about Finland's defence capabilities
European politicians have stressed that the war in Ukraine is not just a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but that Ukraine is fighting on behalf of all of Europe.
According to Mikko, not everyone understands this yet.
Both Mikko and Finn feel that they are also fighting for Finland in Ukraine. Neither of them believes that the war will end soon.
Mikko noted that he has nothing personal against the Russians and that he also has Russian friends.
"Some of them know that I have been here. It hasn't affected our friendships," Mikko told Yle.
He further added that Ukraine prepares soldiers like him with the kind of combat experience that would be needed in Finland if Russia were to invade.
Warfare has changed fundamentally with the advent of drones, he said, suggesting that the training of the Finnish Defence Forces is now badly outdated.
"If Russia attacked Finland right now, Finland would be in trouble. The initial losses would be catastrophic," Mikko argued, as he pointed out that Finland does not understand the scale to which drones are used on the battlefield.
Cars and even individual infantry soldiers in Ukraine are fitted with electronic jamming systems to block enemy drones.
"We are in a situation where infantry has no way to protect themselves from drones. The Russians have so many of them that they are free to choose who they kill," Mikko said.
Yle asked the Finnish Defence Forces to comment on the allegations made by Finnish soldiers.
"The Defence Forces are closely following the events of the war in Ukraine, including developments in technology, tactics and methods. The Defence Forces are constantly developing their own performance and expertise to meet the requirements of the threat environment," the Finnish Defence Forces said in their response.
Finn also said that many of the things he learned during his training in the Finnish military no longer apply to the modern battlefield.
"Nobody seems to understand the huge number of drones here."
Finn also said he believes that Finland — like any other country — would suffer heavy losses in the event of a Russian attack.
Funding hurdles
According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Intelligence and Security Service (Supo), a total of about 100 Finns have fought in Ukraine over the past three years.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry has also posted a webpage on the risks and rules for those that decide to volunteer in Ukraine.
The soldiers are employed by the Ukrainian armed forces and are paid by Ukraine. Therefore, Finnish soldiers have no official status or support services in Finland after their war experiences.
Mikko said he felt empty in Finland after his first tour in Ukraine.
"I could not deal with what happened. I couldn't sleep at night, and I was angry as hell all the time," Mikko said.
Finn, on the other hand, said the death of a Finnish comrade-in-arms weighed heavily on him.
He told Yle that after three years of war experience, he is no longer "the same guy".
"I don't know if I've become a bit numb. When someone dies, I just say 'one 200' on the radio," Finn said.
The numbers 200 and 300 are code words for casualties used by the Ukrainian and Russian armies. The number 200 refers to a fallen soldier and 300 refers to one who is wounded.
Mikko thanked the organisation Your Finnish Friends, an association helping Finnish soldiers in Ukraine.
"It's a lifeline for us. I've received more stuff from the association than from the Ukrainian army," Mikko said.
Mikko criticised the fact that the Finnish fundraising permit does not allow the collection of money for the Ukrainian army and soldiers.
This issue has sparked a wider debate in Finland. The Parliamentary Friendship Group for Ukraine took the initiative to change the law at the beginning of the year. According to the newspaper Turun Sanomat, more than a hundred MPs across party lines are in favour of changing the law.
Mikko finds the whole debate on this topic strange.
"How is it that fighting here for the interests of Finland and Europe is not an activity of public benefit?" Mikko questioned.
In his opinion, it is ultimately about the safety of the soldiers. Ukrainian army salaries cannot cover the costs of necessary, lifesaving equipment on the battlefield.