It seems that Finland is taking no chances. After bidding for NATO membership in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the European city is leaving no stone unturned, quite literally, to secure itself—even going to the extent of preparing itself for an unlikely but potential nuclear apocalypse.
According to reports, the authorities in Finland have constructed an entire city underneath the capital Helsinki which has a playground, hockey rink, and swimming pool.
The underground city has over 500 underground shelters capable to house 900,000 people —a third more than the city’s entire population, reports Daily Mail.
Photos and videos of the entire city were made available on Twitter which took no time to get viral.
As Finland is not protected by a military alliance, the underground city was created to protect the people of the city.
The reports of the underground city come in the wake of threats from Russian leader Vladimir Putin after Finland decided to join the US-led NATO alliance, shedding its wartime neutrality image.
“As a neutral country, we have always felt we need to protect ourselves – and we do,” Anna Lehtiranta, head of communications at Helsinki’s city rescue department, told Mail Online.
“The underground shelters built in the bedrock of Finland come from our experience in the Winter War and during the Second World War. We all have relatives who suffered through those traumas,” said.
The underground shelter was first built during the 1960s, after which the successive governments excavated more than 9 million cubic metres of bedrock below Finland to house more people.
The shelters’ entry doors carefully located above ground are so thick a nuclear blast wouldn’t leave a dent, officials claim.
Watch | Ukraine war: Finland announces historic NATO membership bid, ditches military non-alignment
(With inputs from agencies)
