to try and cross from Russia into Finland.

This video was filmed near a remote checkpoint located over 185

miles north of the Arctic Circle and more than 30 miles from the nearest

Finnish town.

It's not a typical migration route yet.

Similar videos showing hundreds of people making unusual journeys to Finland from

Russia have popped up along their 830 mile long border.

The Finnish authorities are saying Moscow must be behind this.

Here's how Finland says Russia and its allies are using migration as a political

weapon,

believe there is evidence that migrants are being supported to reach Finland's borders in the

past.

It was very difficult for migrants to actually travel to the border without proper

documentation or visas.

And now apparently that is not the case kind of changed.

Finnish aid groups told the journal that it is very unlikely that migrants could travel the

long distances to the border crossings without help.

Videos and photos showed people arriving at checkpoints by foot or using

bicycles.

There are eight official border crossings between Finland and Russia in the first six

months of 2023 less than 100 people crossed the border.

But that increased to thousands of asylum seekers by the end of the year.

Helsinki has described the influx from Russia as an act of hybrid warfare.

Finnish researchers say that is a tactic that is largely used to target political

institutions and influence public opinion.

Migration right now is a hot button topic all over the west.

And it's an issue that gets populations really concerned and anxious.

That is actually a plus a positive for the Kremlin because Putin has shown

in the past that he very much wants to destabilize these liberal

democracies.

Helsinki's government believes that it is being targeted by Russia in retaliation for joining NATO

when Finland joined the Western military alliance in 2023 nato's frontier with Russia

doubled.

Russia wants to show Finland that,

you know,

we can make trouble for you.

We are your neighbor.

We didn't want you to join NATO,

but you have and you're going to have to put up with us.

The Kremlin has denied orchestrating waves of migration to its western neighbor but

said that Finland's ascension into NATO meant Moscow would have to take any

countermeasures to ensure Russia's security.

Russian authorities didn't respond to a request for comment

isn't the first NATO member to say Moscow weaponizes migration.

Russia's close ally.

Belarus has also been accused by European leaders of creating an artificial

migration crisis on its shared borders with Poland,

Lithuania and Latvia.

This happened in 2021 where there was a surge of migrants

going via Belarus to countries and there

was lot of controversy surrounding this because the poles were accused

of mistreating migrants and so that also causes tension

between allies.

The Institute for the study of war said this was enabled or possibly directly

controlled by the Kremlin European leaders said Belarus was flying in

migrants from countries including Iraq and Syria and pushing them across the border in a

bid to destabilize the bloc something Minsk has denied

Finland has kept its border crossings with Russia shut since late November.

This slowed the flow of migrants through the winter.

Yet,

Ngos believe more people will attempt to cross in spring,

especially if checkpoints reopen Finnish.

Authorities say Russia will continue to be a security threat.

We do not have a political relationship right now with

Russia and I don't see that improving in the near

future.

Helsinki believes that thousands of migrants are staying close to the border,

waiting for a chance to cross into Finland.