Finnish conscripts train with British troops as they prove they're ready for Russia
Finnish conscripts and reservists have been taking part in a huge training package to enhance their ability to defend the country's border – and Nato's.
British infanteers from 3 Rifles also deployed to Vuosanka Training Area for Exercise Northern Axe.
Around 3,000 personnel have been training in eastern Finland as part of a wider package happening across the country to make sure these citizen soldiers are ready to answer the call if needed.
A peace worth fighting for
Conscription is a big part of the Finnish defence strategy as there are only around 25,000 regulars in Finland's armed forces.
But this can swell to around 280,000 personnel during wartime, thanks to the bank of reserves and trained conscripts that can be called up.
Sergeant Berg said: "I think it's my duty to protect the country. This is a good country to live in; it's something you have to protect.
"I have my better half and three-month-old boy back home, so I think that's something to protect."
Nato nations on high alert
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put its neighbours on high alert, with Finland and the Baltic States making sure they're as prepared as they can be to face an attack.
The commander of the Kainuu Brigade, Brigadier General Ari Laaksonen, said: "It has always been a general conscription.
"It's part of the national defence understanding – it's not only about the military.
"We have that comprehensive security model, which means everybody has a role. Individual people, military – and then we combine all healthcare and everything together – that's the whole system.
"I think the will to defend is something that's exceptional high in Finland, but that's coming from the era of Winter War [the 1939–1940 war between the Soviet Union and Finland].
"And then you have the mindset of veterans and sayings, and that comes until these days and for this time what we are living."
British Army helping too
Soldiers from 3 Rifles have deployed here to enhance their capability to operate in this part of Europe.
Members of C Company have been performing reconnaissance patrols while getting used to the challenging heavily forested terrain of rural Finland as well as the extreme temperatures.
Rifleman James Whittingham said: "We've been aligned as the battalion that's going to be looking over the Baltics.
"This is sort of an exercise with the objective of 'what if Russia would invade Finland'.
"So we're just going to be providing what help we can to the Finns and showing them what we can do, so that when the time comes they would like to work with us."
The exercise has also given the soldiers a chance to work with the Finnish reserves and conscripts in the field and get a sense of what it would be like to operate with them in a combat situation.
Quick learners
Rifleman Aaron Hunter was impressed by how quickly the Finnish conscripts had grasped their new role.
"They seem to be all over what they're doing. They've all got knowledge.
"If we come to them with questions, they can answer them and then sometimes they'll ask us a few bits, but they seem all over it."
Finland joined Nato in 2023, ending a decades-long position of military non-alignment – and the country now has that support from the alliance.
But the troops from the Kainuu Brigade know they're the first line of defence if any invasion happens.
National service has been a part of Finnish society for a long while now, but the war in Ukraine has put a greater importance on the country's citizen soldiers.
This is an army with one job – to defend its homeland.
And with Europe's greatest security threat across the border, it's making sure it's ready.
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