Russia begins restoration work on abandoned military base near Finnish border

In 2025, Russia began restoring an abandoned Soviet-era military base in Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia, near the border with Finland. Finnish public broadcaster Yle also reports Russian plans to build new military towns in the area, citing satellite image analysis and data from Russian regional media.

Satellite evidence shows that as early as 2024 the Russian military facility in the Rybka residential district of Petrozavodsk was still in a state of neglect. The territory of the former Soviet base was partially overgrown, the buildings were dilapidated, and there was virtually no permanent military presence. According to the Finnish outlet, in previous years the site was used only sporadically, mainly as a training ground for occasional exercises. Several years ago temporary trenches were even dug on its territory.

Things began to change noticeably in the spring of 2025. Satellite images obtained by Yle show that extensive clearing took place on the base’s premises: vegetation was removed from large areas, ground was leveled, and military vehicles were brought in. Images from April 2025 show trucks and other army vehicles in places where a year earlier none were present. Analysts regard this as the first visual sign of the site’s “revival.”

The most striking changes are visible in the images taken in the fall of 2025. In October, more than 50 vehicles were documented on the premises, with some stationed near maintenance and service facilities. Military expert Marko Eklund, who analyzed the images for Yle, believes that such a concentration of vehicles indicates the formation of at least a transport unit. According to Eklund, the base could form the logistical core of Russia’s new 44th Army Corps, or even serve as the foundations for a separate railway brigade intended for troop movements and supply operations in Karelia.

Eklund emphasizes that the restored base in Rybka alone cannot accommodate a unit of even 15,000 personnel, meaning the observed changes should be seen as the initial stage of a much larger-scale military buildup in the region.

Plans to build new military facilities in Petrozavodsk have also been confirmed by reports in Karelian regional media. According to Karelinform, this past November deputies of the Petrozavodsk City Council discussed exempting the Ministry of Defense from fees for removing green areas in connection with the planned construction of new military bases. At the time, Petrosovet Chair Nadezhda Dreizis stated that the deployment of a new military contingent in Karelia was being carried out “by order of the President of Russia,” with the region assigned the role of an “outpost on the NATO border.”

In April 2025, the head of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov had reported discussing the deployment of an army corps in the republic with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Fradkov. According to Parfenchikov, regional authorities are prepared to allocate land, provide gas connections for garrisons, and construct housing for military personnel and their families.

In May 2025, the local outlet Respublika reported that servicemen of the 44th Army Corps had already begun moving to Karelia with their families. At the time, Parfenchikov stated that this did not constitute the “arrival of new units,” but rather their “return.” He stressed the idea that Karelia had “always been the country’s forward post.”

Yle also notes that Russia is expanding its military infrastructure in other areas of the country’s northwest. In the vicinity of Kandalaksha, located about 100 kilometers from the Finnish border, construction continues on a military town for new artillery and engineering brigades. Satellite images show that several large buildings were erected there over the summer and fall of 2025.

According to Yle, several units of the 44th Army Corps are being trained at a base near the city of Luga in Leningrad Region. In the fall of 2025, a significant portion of vehicles was removed from there — likely sent to the war against Ukraine.

In its latest assessment, Finnish military intelligence notes that as these projects are implemented, Russia’s ability to conduct military operations in the northwest will increase; however, the pace of buildup remains limited due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.