Authorities in Russia’s Murmansk Region have begun to introduce additional security measures as Moscow continues to expand its military infrastructure in the northwest of the country. Since June 28, police have been denying trucks traveling on the Kola highway entry into the region, and near the town of Kandalaksha vehicle searches have begun, notes the independent outlet 7×7.
According to Finnish outlet Yle, a Russian military base is being built near Kandalaksha to house and station new artillery and engineering brigades totaling approximately 2,000 personnel. After Ukraine’s successful “Spiderweb” operation of June 2025, in which drones transported by unsuspecting truckers flew out from their cargo to attack strategic airbases across Russia — including Olenya air base near Murmansk — the region began transitioning to heightened security measures. 7×7 links the comprehensive vehicle inspections and restrictions on the Kola highway specifically to efforts to protect military infrastructure.
Although the regional operational headquarters called the vehicle inspections routine, they coincided with the large-scale buildup of Russian military presence in the area.
Russia has been consistently strengthening its military infrastructure in the northwestern direction since Finland and Sweden joined NATO. In 2024, a base for the 44th Army Corps of the reconstituted Leningrad Military District was established near the Karelian village of Novaya Vilga, and efforts began to convert a former warehouse in Kandalaksha into a new military garrison. More than 42 billion rubles ($548 million) were allocated for the development of these facilities in 2024-2026.
In June, Yle reported on the construction of a new base near Petrozavodsk in Karelia. According to satellite imagery and construction paperwork, a military town of more than 50 buildings is being built a few dozen kilometers from the Finnish border. Finnish experts estimate the future garrison will have a strength of 4,000 to 6,000 military personnel. They call the development the first entirely new Russian military base on the Finnish border since Finland joined NATO.
A senior NATO official told The Insider’s correspondent at the alliance’s summit in Ankara that Russia continues to build up its forces on the Finnish border, in the High North, and in Kaliningrad Region. According to the official, Russia has reconstituted the Leningrad and Moscow military districts and formed at least one new army corps and three new divisions, with the overall aim of increasing the size of the army to 1.8 million personnel.
Nevertheless, NATO believes that the majority of Russian recruits continue to be sent to the war in Ukraine to replenish losses, and they note that the pace of advance of Russian forces at the front has slowed significantly compared to last year. Despite the strengthening of Russian military infrastructure, the alliance does not believe that Moscow is preparing for an imminent attack on NATO countries.
“There are no signs of Russia’s intention to carry out an imminent attack on the alliance in the near term. That would be a poor decision,” the senior NATO official assessed.
