Russia expanded military infrastructure at the Rybka base in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia—175 kilometers from the Finnish border—and constructed a new military town in Kandalaksha, Murmansk Oblast—115 kilometers from the border—between June 2024 and October 2025, as shown in satellite images published by Finnish broadcaster Yle on February 2, 2026, between 1:45 AM and 4:45 AM UTC. Yle reported that the Soviet-era Rybka garrison, mostly abandoned since the early 2000s, now hosts the 44th Army Corps of the Leningrad Military District and includes a large air base and equipment depot. Satellite imagery from May and August 2025 depicts construction of the Kandalaksha town for the Luptsche-Savino garrison, started in winter 2024-2025, to accommodate a new artillery brigade and engineering brigade, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) citing Yle during the reporting window. ISW noted that Russia restructured its Western Military District into the Leningrad and Moscow Military Districts in 2024 and formed the 44th Army Corps to improve strategic command along the northern border against NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously threatened Finland using language similar to justifications for the Ukraine invasion, as referenced in the ISW update. Separate ISW reports in the same period highlighted Russian drones striking a maternity hospital and a miners' bus in Ukraine on February 1, 2026, causing civilian casualties, alongside Kremlin efforts to pressure the Trump administration on Ukraine demands and portray itself as a negotiator for Donetsk Oblast control.
