Finland has finished inventorying its existing bomb shelters in a government effort prompted by neighboring Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and found it has 50,500 of them, its Interior Ministry said on August 29. Finland joined NATO in April in a historic security policy U-turn, but it has been preparing for the possibility of a conflict with Russia for decades, after fighting back an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War II. The Nordic country made construction of emergency shelters mandatory under apartment blocks and office buildings as early as in the 1950s. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.
Finland Counted Its Bomb Shelters And Found 50,500 Of Them
Tomi Rask, emergency planning officer at the Helsinki rescue department, is pictured at a civil defense underground shelter that is also used as a sports hall. (file photo)