Border police officers control the Vaalimaa land border between Finland and Russia, one of the main land borders between the two countries (Photo: Giulio Paletta/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Finland has erected barriers at four border crossings with Russia to combat the increase in migrant crossings.

Officials in Helsinki say the rising number of refugees was deliberately orchestrated by Moscow.

Finland has directly accused Russian authorities of diverting migrants to border crossings in retaliation for their decision to step up defense cooperation with the United States.

This claim has now been rejected by the Kremlin.

At midnight last night, barriers were erected at four of the nine border crossings with Russia, at Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala in the southeast.

The train stations will remain closed to all traffic until February 18, the Finnish Border Guard said.

The first physical confrontation between border guards and migrants took place at the Niirala border station before 7 p.m. local time, more than an hour before the station closed, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported.

Border guards in the small village of Nuijamaa, about three hours’ drive from Helsinki, another land border crossing between Finland and Russia, where the two countries are separated by water and a canal (Photo: Giulio Paletta/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Border police officers control the Vaalimaa land border between Finland and Russia, one of the main land borders between the two countries. (Photo by: Giulio Paletta/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Four barriers have been erected at the border crossings between the two countries (Photo: Giulio Paletta/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

YLE witnessed one migrant being stopped with a chemical irritant, while others were pushed back by border guards.

The incident occurred after a group of about thirty migrants arrived at Niirala train station and attempted to run through the entry point from the Russian side.

“Our goal is to use barriers to prevent entry,” Matti Pitkaniitty, Border Patrol director of international affairs, told reporters.

The measures are in response to changes in Russia’s border policy, he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Finland made a “big mistake” by choosing the path of confrontation with Russia, state news agency TASS reported.

IMATRA, FINLAND - APRIL 14: A view of the border area as construction work continues on the Finnish-Russian border in Imatra, Finland, April 14, 2023. Finland is building a wall along the border with Russia. The 200 km long fences will be placed at various locations. The project to close the eastern border barrier is currently in the pilot phase and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023. (Photo by Jakob Johannsen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A view of the border crossing area in Imatra, Finland, as construction of a fence was underway (Photo: Jakob Johannsen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“One can only express deep regret that the Finnish authorities have chosen the path of destroying bilateral relations,” TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

According to the Border Guard, around 300 asylum seekers, mainly from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria, arrived in Finland this week.

According to official information, almost 100 people from Russia entered Finland on Friday afternoon alone.

Finland shares a 1,340 km long border with Russia, which also serves as the EU’s external border.

Helsinki angered Moscow when it joined the NATO military alliance in April after Russia invaded Ukraine after decades without an alliance.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked the Finnish authorities on Thursday for protecting the Union’s external border. “Russia’s instrumentalization of migrants is shameful,” she added.

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