Russia is trying to recruit asylum seekers from Finland as spies; Finland’s security and intelligence agency said on Tuesday, amid a recent surge in asylum seekers crossing the Finland-Russia border.

The last months, more than a thousand asylum seekers have reached Finland through the country’s eastern border with Russia, a border line that stretches over 1,340 kilometers.

Last week alone, several dozen people illegally crossed the eastern border into Finland, and the Finnish border guard estimated on Monday that on Finland’s eastern border there may be thousands of people ready to do the same.

However, according to some information revealed by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, Russia is trying to recruit some of the asylum seekers as informants for Moscow.

“There are several ways to try to cooperate [με τη Μόσχα], such as exerting pressure, linking the request for cooperation with the conditions of exit from the country or the promise of, for example, financial benefits,” the intelligence agency told the Finnish press.

However, the agency noted that the phenomenon is not large-scale.

Since the beginning of August, more than 1,300 third-country nationals have entered Finland through its border with Russia, mainly from Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq.

According to the Finnish National Criminal Police (KRP), the large number of arrivals has delayed the identification of people who may pose a threat to internal security, as these people are believed to have entered Finland irregularly through the eastern border.