Finland sent troops to the border with Russia because of the flow of migrants

The Finnish authorities have been forced to send regular troops to the borders. The military had to help border guards cope with the influx of migrants at the Vartius checkpoint on the border with Russia. Arriving on the spot, the military began to erect barriers in the border zone. DW writes .

Already after the reinforcement to the checkpoint arrived another 20 asylum seekers on bicycles. According to Finnish border guards, people had to be taken to Finland, as Russian border guards did not accept them back and even "pushed" them into Finnish territory.

They were mostly citizens of Somalia, Syria and Yemen. They did not have with them the necessary documents for travelling and had applied for asylum," the publication notes.

Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said that the number of illegal migrants arriving from the Russian side and trying to enter Finland has increased sharply in recent days.

The country's authorities have been forced to close four out of nine border crossings on the border with Russia because of the rapid growth of illegal migrants.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said that the country was prepared "for this kind of nastiness from the Russian Federation."

Following Finland, two other Schengen countries bordering Russia, Norway and Estonia, announced their readiness to close their borders.