OT: Are Russians buyng land in Finland for covert bases?
 

This October 2018 report from the New york Times speculates that the Russians have been buying remote properties in Finland for possible military use.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/w...military.html?

I'd be rather surprised if most countries weren't doing something like that actually.

I know of examples where the country concerned has been buying land in another nation for the purposes of securing future food resources (e.g. China buying farms and cattle stations in Australia) or even mineral resources. And there's even been examples in history of such things or for ensuring future security or reducing a potential future security risk (the sale of Alaska to the USA by Imperial Russia being an example of the latter).
But the majority of these land acquisitions were relatively public.

I think this is the first time I've seen land bought covertly for a probable (and not so subtle) military use however.
Would definitely be interested to see any other examples in the modern world that people know of.

All very weird indeed.

In light of this news, it's not surprising that Finland has been discussing NATO membership for the past few years.