Photos from Karelian Isthmus

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Winter War bunkers from the Inkilä sector. The Inkilä (Ink) fortified area covers the isthmus between the Gulf of Finland and lake Kuolemajärvi. There are seven MG bunkers, all built in the 1930s.

 
                          
In 1909, during Nikolai II's times, construction work was begun on the coastal artillery fort at Ino. The first photo shows ruins at the Ino area; the second is a photo of "Hannu-Juosepin porna",  the western observation and measurement point of the Ino fort, located at Vitikkala.


 
During the early days of the Winter War the Soviets set up the Kuusinen puppet government - new "democratic" Finnish government - in the town of Terijoki, the first town of any size they took in Finnish territory. The building where the Terijoki goverment sat is still there, an old officers' club. Nowadays it is abandoned and in ruins.



Ihantala was the site for the biggest battle in the history of Scandinavia. Here the Finns managed to stop the Soviet advance in July, 1944. The front line went through Ihantala cemetary. Portinhoikka was an important road crossing on the way from Tali to Ihantala.



Kuuterselkä is the place where the Soviets broke through the VT Line on June 14, 1944.



Äyräpää saw battle both in the Winter War and in summer 1944.



Käkisalmi is an old Finnish-Karelian town, where the Karelians first built a fort for the protection of the village and the Vuoksi area. The Vuoksi River used to flow through here on the way from Laatokka to the Gulf of Finland.




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