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Finland's relationship with Russia has always been complicated, and Nato membership has raised the stakes. The show explores a former CIA officer's recent claims that Russia continues to send "illegals" — deep-cover agents who live ordinary lives while carrying out secret missions — into Finland and other Nato countries. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Finland has a long history of espionage dating back to the Cold War, when Helsinki served as a training ground for Soviet agents. In this episode, we hear how key Finnish figures were assigned "pet Russians" and how espionage was used to gain access to Western technology, though, as it often turned out, the story behind the spy games was more complicated than it seemed. The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) also weighs in on how concerns have shifted to hybrid tactics, rather than conventional military incursions. Join the conversation! Zena Iovino produced and presented this episode of All Points North. The sound engineer was Pasi Ilkka. If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts, contact us via WhatsApp at +358 44 421 0909 or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.
