# Inside Finland's Underground Bunkers Built For Russian Attacks > Finland features an extensive underground bunker network in Helsinki equipped with gyms and play areas designed to shelter millions if war breaks out. - Publisher: Briefzora (https://briefzora.com) - URL: https://briefzora.com/inside-finlands-underground-bunkers-built-for-russian-attacks - Published: 2026-11-04T02:00:00+05:00 - Author: Briefzora Desk (https://briefzora.com/author/briefzora-desk) - Section: World - Topics: The Sun Newspaper, Sun Club, Features, Exclusives, Print Features, NATO - Image: https://briefzora.com/uploads/2026/11/inside-finlands-mammoth-network-of-underground-bunkers-if-russia-atta-itjgbe.webp ## Key points - Helsinki features an underground network of 5,500 shelters capable of housing one million people. - The Merihaka shelter sits approximately 100ft beneath the Hakaniemi Market Square. - Finland maintains room for 5 million people across 50,500 shelters nationwide. - Russia and Finland share an 830-mile border, prompting decades of civil defence preparation. ## Why it matters Finnish citizens and residents rely on these extensive underground bunkers for safety and survival in the event of a potential military attack from Russia. ## Article Deep beneath the city streets of Helsinki is a huge sports centre with a gym, five-a-side pitches and a children's play area, complete with a ball pool and trampolines. Hundreds of locals flock here every week to keep fit and have fun, but its real purpose is to keep them alive if Russia attacks. It is just one of the city's underground network of 5,500 shelters which can house a million people should war break out. Across the country there is room for 5million. ## Cyber Threats And War Warnings Such an act of aggression by Russia against its next-door neighbour would be a shocking development now that Finland is part of Nato. But for some time military leaders have talked about an increased risk of attack on any Nato nation, including the UK. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said that Britain needs to be ready to go to war within 1,000 days. And the UK's cyber security chief yesterday warned of a surge in AI-powered hacking attacks on our critical national infrastructure by Russia and China. Dr Richard Horne, head of GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre, stated at the launch of the annual State of the Cyber Nation report that more had to be done to protect Brits. He said: "Our nation is living through a moment that, in hindsight, we will see as one of enormous consequence, a 'sliding doors' moment." He added: "When food isn't on shelves, lights aren't on, businesses have gone under, we may have to explain that we saw the warning signs, understood the risks and still didn't make the right choices." With the prospect of an attack or other catastrophic event being such a hot topic, politicians could do worse than look to Finland for an example of how to stand up to bullies. It is no surprise that the northern European country has spent decades preparing for such an attack. ## History And Construction Of The Shelters Finland and Russia share an 830-mile border, and in 1939-40 they fought a war which left nearly 200,000 dead and 250,000 wounded. When peace broke out, Finland had lost ten per cent of its territory, a lesson it has never forgotten. The shelter-building program began a few years later and has never stopped. There are now 50,500 of them across Finland providing nearly five million places, with the biggest concentration in the capital, Helsinki. Nina Jarvenkyla, 56, of the City Rescue Department, took The Sun on a tour of the Merihaka shelter, around 100ft beneath the Hakaniemi Market Square. The entrance is marked by the international symbol for shelters, a blue triangle on an orange background, with the words "Civil Defence Shelter" underneath in both of the country's official languages, Finnish and Swedish. We descended eight storeys down a metal staircase into the depths of the 1.8billion-year-old ice age granite which forms the bedrock of Helsinki. There is a lift, but Nina said: "I want you to see how it would be in wartime because you wouldn't use the elevator for fear of a power cut." She added: "No one wants to get stuck in a lift when bombs are dropping." ## Blast Doors And Everyday Uses The shelter itself is protected by two sets of heavy metal doors. The first, set into a metre-thick wall, are designed to withstand the initial blast of a missile strike. The second is to protect those inside from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In between the two is a decontamination showering area. The doors weigh several tonnes each but are designed so that a single person can close them. If they fail to do so in time, there is a second layer of defence to reduce the blast of a missile strike. All the corridors follow a curved pattern so each bend can diminish the force of a blast wave before it reached those sheltering inside. It is innovations such as these which have made Finland the world leader in building shelters. Only Switzerland has more shelter places per capita, but it was to Helsinki that President Zelensky travelled last year for advice on improving Ukraine's shelter stock. Once inside the shelter, Nina showed us the well-equipped gym where a number of keep-fit fanatics were busy working out. Nearby were two pitches for five-a-side, or futsal as it is known in Finland, which double as an area for floorball, a form of hockey popular in Scandinavia, and badminton courts. The kids play area, called the Play Cave, is just like any in the UK, with ball pools, slides and trampolines, which youngsters can enjoy all day long for 14 euros, with reduced rates for the under-threes. Next-door is a 73-bay public car park, with the whole shelter taking up around seven acres, the size of two football pitches. The wavy white walls are achieved by spraying the concrete covering the granite which is then painted. Granite is black or red and dusty so the concrete is used to give the shelters a lighter, airier feel and to stop dust covering everything. Many of the shelters are put to everyday use to keep them well maintained. Across Helsinki they house an Olympic-sized swimming pool, go-kart track, skateboarding park, churches and rehearsal spaces for heavy metal bands. ## Wartime Transformation And Russian Build-up But under Finland's "72-hour" policy, they can all be transformed in less than three days to keep the population safe. In the site we toured, which has its own power supply and huge tanks of water, the equipment for peacetime activities would be cleared and replaced by **2,000 beds** and scores of temporary toilets. The basic, three-tier bunks felt shaky when I tried them out. Nina reassured: "They are built like that on purpose. If they wobble then they won't break when a blast hits." The shelter can house 6,000 people but there are only 2,000 beds because the plan is for it to operate on a rotation basis, a third of people sleeping, a third taking part in activities such as keep-fit, a third helping officials with tasks such as cleaning. Just like the bunks, the toilet system is basic. Plastic loos are placed inside small tents in the maintenance corridor away from the main areas to offer privacy. But there is no sewage system so people have to do their business into a plastic bag then take it to a central disposal area. Nina added: "Some people turn their nose up at this, but in war..." Everyone in Finland is aware that conflict could break out, partly because of Ukraine's experience but also because of the Kremlin's military build-up along the border. Satellite imagery has shown a rapid expansion along Russia's north-west frontier with new barracks, warehouses and equipment storage areas. Analysts say Moscow will soon be able to station up to 115,000 troops in the region, nearly six times more than before it invaded Ukraine. Marko Eklund, a former Finnish military intelligence officer, said: "I have received new images that show significant changes all along the border." He added: "They are building new facilities to accommodate additional soldiers." Russia denies it is planning to attack Nato, but that is of little reassurance to Finland, whose oldest residents still remember the last war. Nina added: "My mother is 80 so she was born a few years after that war but she remembers her parents talking about it." She also said: "Our home town was an industrial area so it was bombed a lot. Everybody knows the history, and we know what happened in Ukraine. So it is possible that Russia will attack Finland. We don't trust our neighbour but we are prepared." ## National Resilience And Public Sentiments If the attack comes, Finns insist they will be ready, partly because of the shelter networks and other military planning but also because of "sisu", a form of resilience and determination which is one of the most important concepts in Finnish culture. Above ground, flower seller Tuula Koski, 68, displays that national trait as she reveals the threat of Russia is now a bigger concern than the fall-off in trade in the 42 years she has been running her market stall. She said: "The war with Ukraine will end soon and Russia will then attack us. It will happen because that is their mindset and they think that Finland belongs to them. And if that happens then we will be ready. Finland is prepared." Back in the shelter, nanny Khushbakht Hayat, 25, has just arrived at the Play Cave with the two-year-old boy she looks after. Normally, sisu would not be in anyone's mind when watching a laughing child having fun in a ball pool, but these are no longer normal times. Khushbakht said: "I come here every day. He loves it and it is a great play area. But it is also a shelter and that makes you feel safe. I don't know if we would be OK if there was an attack but I think we will be. Finland is a strong country." ## Frequently asked questions ### How many shelters are there in Finland? There are 50,500 shelters across Finland providing nearly five million places. ### What is inside the Helsinki underground shelter? The underground shelter contains a sports centre, gym, five-a-side pitches, a children's play area, and a public car park. --- When citing, please link to https://briefzora.com/inside-finlands-underground-bunkers-built-for-russian-attacks and name Briefzora as the source.