Finland on Tuesday began construction of its new 200-kilometer fence on part of its border with Russia, which was decided after the invasion of Ukraine, border police said, as quoted by AFP.

The work concerns a three-kilometer pilot project near the city of Imatra in southeastern Finland.

The work began on Tuesday “with the cutting of the forest and will continue to allow the construction of the road and the installation of the fence,” the border police said in a statement.

The construction of another 70 kilometers is planned between 2023 and 2025, mainly in the southeast of the country, on the most visited section of the border with Russia, which is 1,340 kilometers long.

In total, Finland plans to build 200 kilometers of fencing in a large-scale project estimated at 380 million euros.

Three-meter high metal fences will be topped with barbed wire, and night-time surveillance cameras, lighting and loudspeakers will be installed in areas deemed sensitive.

The last phase should be completed in 2026.

Fearing that Moscow could use the migrants to exert political pressure, NATO candidate Finland amended its border guard law in July to make it easier to build stronger barriers.

At the moment, the borders of Finland are mainly protected by light wooden fences, designed mainly to keep animals.

Estonia, Latvia and Poland have also strengthened or plan to strengthen security at their borders with Russia.

In September, Russians fled en masse to Finland after President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine.

Then Helsinki severely restricted the entry of Russian citizens into its territory.​​