‘This may be just the beginning’: the guards at Finland’s closed Russian border

Vesa Arffman, head of the Ivalo border crossing: ‘I would hope that it was a once in a lifetime experience.’ Photograph: Juho Kuva/The Guardian

Standing inside the border station at Raja-Jooseppi – with leather gloves tucked into his fleece-lined hat on the table in front of him and snow falling in the darkness outside – Lt Col Ville Ahtiainen paused to reflect on the geopolitical drama that has descended on this remote part of the Arctic.

“Maybe this is over, or maybe this was just the beginning,” said the deputy commander of the Lapland Border Guard. “I hope this is over and we can back get to normal life, but we will see.”