Escalation: Finland Conducts Major Civil Defense Drill

Finland ran a two-day civil defense drill in Kuopio, the largest in Europe since World War II. More than 2,000 participants, including volunteers and students, were shut inside a rock-hewn shelter that is normally a sports hall, with hundreds sleeping overnight on trestle beds to practice operating it.

The exercise, called Shelter 2026, simulated cyberattacks that cut power and water while a threat of Russian missile strikes grew. Conscripts in hazmat suits measured radiation and readied the cave to shelter thousands behind doors built to withstand nuclear or biological attack.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources