Finland is hosting a large-scale artillery exercise organized by NATO for the first time since the country joined the Western military alliance last year.

High schools – in which real fire is used – started yesterday Sunday.

The exercise is taking place in northern Lapland and is part of wider artillery training courses, which have been dubbed “Dynamic Front 25” and are the largest ever organized in Europe.

It is the first time NATO allies’ armed forces have trained in large-scale artillery fire on Finnish soil, less than 200 kilometers from the border with Russia.

Up to 3,600 troops from Finland, the US, Sweden, Britain, France and other NATO member states have been training as the wet chill now sweeps across Lapland’s vast arctic landscapes.

This shooting and training range is the largest in Europe.

The area and the prevailing conditions “are the very reason” that allies want to hold high schools there, noted Finnish colonel (PB) Janne Makitalo, director of the high schools.

The exercises allow for “multiple tactical fire exchanges for combat artillery” and at the same time train units to deal with difficult conditions and different landscapes in the arctic zone, Colonel Makitalo explained.

Finland, which shares a 1,300km border with Russia, joined NATO in April 2023, ending decades of non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Finland closed its border with Russia in December 2023. Helsinki has accused Moscow of organizing irregular migrant flows to destabilize the Nordic country.

In addition to the fire drills in Finland, similar ones will take place in Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland.