Russian citizens entering Finland has more than doubled compared to the week before, the country’s border guard said today.
Finland is considering barring most Russians from entering the country as traffic arriving from its eastern neighbour “intensified” on Thursday following president Vladimir Putin’s order for a partial military mobilisation.
“This morning it remains busy ... maybe increasing a little bit from yesterday,” a spokesperson for the border guard said early on Friday.
The queue was longest at the busy Vaalimaa crossing with cars lining up for around 500 metres, which was longer than on Thursday, the spokesperson said. Lines were also “longer than normally” at the second-biggest Nuijamaa crossing.
Meanwhile, four Russia-backed territories in Ukraine, amounting to around 15 per cent of the besieged country, have opened voting in referendums today to break away from Kyiv.
By incorporating the four areas voting today into Russia, Moscow could justify military escalation as necessary to defend its territory.
