The last train of the great flight

The last train from St. Petersburg arrived in Helsinki on Sunday afternoon. Now the routes are interrupted and the Russians have one less choice to travel to the West.

Sunday, seven in the afternoon. Last route to Allegro, the express train that connects Helsinki with St. Petersburg. After a journey of 3.5 hours, many Russians disembark at the main station of the Finnish capital. Some are staying permanently in Helsinki and Sunday’s service was their last chance to return. Like Aliya, an older lady. “I hope the services will resume soon,” he says. “People would take every opportunity to make this trip anyway.” As for the situation in Russia, Aliya does not seem very optimistic. “Everyone is worried, you no longer see smiling faces and this is something very rare,” he says characteristically.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Allegro has transported about 700 passengers to Helsinki every day. The authorities made every effort to maintain the routes, so that the Finns living in Russia could return to their homeland. Many Russians were taking Allegro tickets with them, trying to escape the effects of the sanctions. But for them the escape was not uncontrollable. The Russian authorities took care to check that the travelers have a visa and all the necessary documents to leave the country. As Allegro now terminates its regular services, there is no longer a rail link between Russia and the West. The only option for Russians who want to leave the country is to fly through Turkey or Serbia.

Russia – Finland, a special relationship

Young Ivan, a student living permanently in the Finnish capital, also returns to Helsinki. “I still do not know when I will return to Moscow,” he said. “We will see how the situation develops…” For decades Allegro has offered a unique outlet for Russians who wanted to visit Western Europe, but also for Finnish tourists who wanted to get to know the imperial St. Petersburg. After all, the distances are negligible. Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, was only 30 miles[30 km]from the Finnish border at a time when Stalin’s troops were occupying and forcibly annexing the province of East Karelia.

Russia and Finland have always had special relations. In the 19th century Sweden ceded Finland to tsarist Russia and granted it autonomy, but the idea of ​​independence was quickly reinforced. In 1906 Finland gained one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world (securing for example the right to vote and to be elected for women), while in 1917, amid the geopolitical upheavals brought about by the October Revolution, it secured its independence. But in World War II, Stalin invaded Finland and occupied 10% of its territory – including East Karelia in the south, Petsamo province in the north and Vipuri, the country’s second largest city. This was the price of the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.

Is history repeating itself?

Some will say that “Finnishization” is repeated today in the case of Ukraine. The irony of the story is that in these difficult times, Finland also offers refuge to some Russians, such as the young Alex, a permanent resident of Helsinki, another passenger on the last Allegro route. “I went to get my cats, they are the most valuable I have,” he says. “And now that I have them with me, I have no reason to return to Russia.”

Giannis Papadimitriou (AP)

Source: Deutsche Welle