Hossa to Lantiira via Raate Road.
One of my planned highlights today. A visit to The Winter War Museum and Raate Road.
I admit I don't know what to write though... the facts of the Raate Road battle are harrowing enough but when considered alongside what's going on in Ukraine today highlight the senselesness if war.
The main "Open Embrace" monument has 105 brass bells to represent the number of days the Winter War lasted and it is surrounded by 17,000 large rocks to try and give a visual impact of the lives lost in the battle along this road. Some 900 Finnish soldiers died and while Russia never gives realistic casualty figures, even today, it is estimated that 24,000 Red Army soldiers perished. This estimate is based on the fact that all men of the Red Army 44th Division were either killed or captured and a Division was apparently 17,500.
The startling fact? The men of the 44th Division were Ukranians.
I'll just show pictures of some of the memorials and of the old border crossing where Raate Road starts....
