Former Saultite Rissanen joined Finnish reservists, ready to fight if Putin attacks Finland as war in Ukraine continues
After observing Vladimir Putin’s continued aggression in Ukraine, Finland has announced its desire to join NATO.
The Finnish parliament, unsurprisingly, has approved a proposal to apply for NATO membership.
Sweden has also expressed its desire to join the 30-member defense alliance.
Roy Rissanen is a native of Sault and a Finnish-Canadian who moved to Finland a year ago after deciding to live and work in his ancestral homeland.
Finland, like Ukraine, is a neighbor of Russia and was invaded by the former Soviet Union in the 1939-40 Winter War.
“The general feeling here in Finland is one of nervousness but also of preparation,” Rissanen said in a telephone interview from his home in Helsinki.
“There has been a long history with our neighbors to the east and Finland has stayed neutral not out of ideology but out of necessity, to try to be good neighbors, and that worked for them.”
However, in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rissanen said that “there’s a saying ‘you don’t go and hit a sleeping bear,’ but if that bear is awake and coming for you, you better grab your gun. You have to be ready, and that’s where we are right now.”
Putin has repeatedly stated his view that NATO is locking Russia in, as many Russia’s neighbors, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other Eastern European states, have joined NATO over the years.
Ukraine was slowly working its way to NATO membership before the Russian invasion on February 24.
With that, is there any concern that Finland may come under further aggression from the Putin regime, especially with the Russian president feeling ‘boxed in’?
“My personal opinion is that I don’t think Putin is that worried about the whole NATO thing,” Rissanen said.
“He makes NATO the boogeyman in the media, saying ‘NATO is trying to surround us’ and that gives him leverage with his people, because NATO is something to be afraid of.”
“He has been looking at his strategy with Ukraine, but I don’t think NATO was his number one target. If he was, obviously Finland would have been more important to him,” Rissanen said.
Finland has access points to the Baltic Sea that Russia would be interested in, but Rissanen asked “what would be the cost of trying to take Finland for those strategic places? It wouldn’t be worth it for Putin.”
Attacking Finland would not be easy, Rissanen said.
Despite its superior military strength, the former Soviet Union suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Finnish military in the Winter War. The war ended in March 1940 with the signing of a peace treaty that led to Finland losing approximately 10 percent of its territory to the Soviet Union.
Memories of Russian losses in the Winter War might make Putin think twice about invading Finland, Rissanen said.
“If Ukraine had collapsed in a short time, Finland, the Baltic states and Russia would probably be involved in a conflict, but Putin has obviously not progressed with his incredible weaponry as he had planned.”
As a former Royal Canadian Navy officer, Rissanen said, “I have seen Russian propaganda videos about how big and scary their technology and ships are. Now I’m thinking they really aren’t that scary. It was not a big surprise for me to see that they have fared so poorly in this conflict.”
“You won’t meet a family anywhere in Finland that doesn’t have a connection to a loss in The Winter War and The Continuation War.”
The Continuation War involved Finland siding with Germany in its invasion of Russia in 1941 in an attempt to recapture lost territory.
“My great-grandfather’s family lived on Finnish territory that was ceded to Russia. They all had to move out of that area. There were big effects in the country,” Rissanen said.
“From there, Finland always took a step of preparation. It was never ‘if war comes’, it’s ‘when war comes, we have to be prepared’. The preparation here now includes bunker space for almost the entire population to fit in in case of air strikes or nuclear strikes. The full-time permanent military force is in the thousands and the reserve force is 900,000, so in a couple of days they could have a couple hundred thousand people ready to fight. In a few weeks they could have almost a million people ready to fight. It would be a very difficult task if Russia wanted to do something about it.”
Rissanen said he signed up as a reservist in the Finnish Army and his son is currently doing one year of military service.
“Absolutely,” Rissanen said when asked if he would be ready to fight in the event of a Russian attack on Finland.
Rissanen said he is confident that NATO, including Canada and the US, will step in to help Finland if the country is attacked.
“Although mothers will worry, we are fully prepared,” Rissanen said.
“My opinion is that it is good that Finland joins NATO. They should have done it years ago. It’s definitely a good thing,” said Sault’s Martti Tanninen.
“Finland is doing the right thing by joining NATO, but they should have a dialogue with Russia because it is their neighbor and there is a lot of trade between them.”
Born in Finland, Tanninen moved to Sault with his family in 1951 as a child.
“I was five years old, but my wife is from Finland and I have brothers who still live in Finland, so we know very well what is happening there. We are in contact with them weekly.
“It is a concern for us. I have a sister in Helsinki and my wife has four brothers in Finland. I have nieces and nephews there, cousins there, so we’re worried but not worried,” Tanninen said.
“At the end of 1939, my dad and uncles were involved in the Winter War. We are very familiar with that era. My father fought in that war. My wife’s father was on the front line.”
Witnessing Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine, Tanninen said: “I have visited Russia myself and the Russian people are fantastic people, but the problem is the government.”
“I pray for the Russians, may God give their leaders some understanding, to stop this nonsense,” Tanninen said.
Reference-www.sootoday.com