Andrey Gurulyov, a former Russian military commander and current lawmaker, suggested on state TV that NATO member Finland could be Russian President Vladimir Putin's next target after Ukraine.
Finland joined the NATO military alliance this year in response to Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia and Finland share an 800-mile border.
Gurulyov, the former deputy commander of the Southern Military District, made the comments during an appearance on state TV channel Russia-1. An excerpt of the segment was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by BBC Monitoring reporter Francis Scarr.
"Russian MP Andrei Gurulyov says that Finland is being turned into a 'second Ukraine' and claims that Finns increasingly have territorial claims on Petrozavodsk," wrote Scarr, sharing a 27-second clip of the state TV broadcast.
Russian MP Andrei Gurulyov says that Finland is being turned into a "second Ukraine" and claims that Finns increasingly have territorial claims on Petrozavodsk pic.twitter.com/m81V10bemy
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) October 24, 2023
The city of Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Russian Republic of Karelia, is located some 108 miles from Finland's border. The Soviet Union seized the republic from Finland in the 1940s.
In September, Finnish public service broadcaster Yle reported that Russia has been developing its military base in Petrozavodsk.
"We understand very well that they're turning Finland into a second Ukraine. It's impossible not to notice these processes," said Gurulyov.
"Today, the moods are being heated up within Finland, I gave my aides a specific instruction to look at what Finns are writing—and it's awful! They're saying joyously that 'Petrozavodsk is ours!' and all the rest of it," he added.
Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministries of Russia and Finland via email for comment.
Earlier this month, independent Russian investigative publication Agentstvo said a new presidential decree suggests that Moscow could be gearing up for a standoff with Finland and the Baltic States.
The Russian Ministry of Defense prepared a presidential decree that would deprive Russia's Northern Fleet of its status as an "interspecific strategic territorial association." It would transfer its four constituent regions (The Komi Republic, Arkhangelsk, and Murmansk oblasts, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug) to the reformed Leningrad Military District.
Russian military analyst Yuri Fedorov told Agentstvo that the recreation of the Leningrad Military District suggests that Russia is preparing for possible conflicts with the Baltic States and NATO.
The Leningrad Military District, stationed close to new NATO member Finland and the Baltic States, is a key component of the Russian Armed Forces that oversees parts of the nation's defense strategy in Russia's western region.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
