80 years since the begin of the Winter War

November 30, 1939, 80 years ago, the war of the USSR against Finland began. For the sake of reconstructing the events of those years, members of the military-historical clubs of St. Petersburg and Petrozavodsk gathered at the tank training ground in Kamenka to play the battle of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.


This war is also called “Winter” and “Unknown” in a different way.

Red commanders.


Tankers of the Red Army in pre-war form.


Build the Red Army in Budenovki.


Two infantrymen of the Red Army before the battle with the Finns.


Fighters of the Red Army take photos of each other as a keepsake.


An infantryman of the Red Army with a machine gun of the Diagterev system on his shoulder and an armored car in the background.


The infantryman of the Red Army takes pictures of the armored car as a keepsake.


Armored Car Red.


Stroy fighters of the Red Army. “Take us Suomi, beauty.”

Finnish infantryman and full-time photographer of the Red Army.


Senior lieutenant of the Red Army in the form of a pre-war model.


Red Army man


Red Army infantryman in a helmet.


Assistant platoon commander and infantryman of the Red Army.


Medical service lieutenant talking with foot soldiers.




Foreman of the engineering troops.


Before the fight.





Senior Lieutenant of the Red Army.


A machine gun and a fighter of the Red Army rest before the battle.


Finnish commander in front of the Red Army.


Only in the picture I noticed that a sleeve was put on the bayonet of the right fighter.


An operator from the camp of reenactors on an armored car with an amateur video camera. As I understand it, they shot the film for themselves.


It seems to me that smoking “Belomorkanal” through the mouthpiece is a perversion: D


Fighter of the Finnish Armed Forces.


The positions of the Finnish troops before the start of the battle.


Attack of the Red Army infantry at the Finnish position with the support of a machine gun. About a hundred participants, two armored vehicles, pyrotechnics allowed to recreate the maximum realism of events, mainly thanks to the reenactors themselves. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was only the first minutes and the battle was not commented at all.


Russian machine gunners firing, supporting the infantry attack.


Finnish infantrymen are firing a machine gun at the advancing fighters of the Red Army.


The Finns fired from a machine gun, restraining the attack of Soviet soldiers.

The war for good reason was called "Unknown." The events of those years were hushed up by both the Soviets and the Finns. Parts of the Red Army went to release the Finnish workers and peasants, the Finns defended their freedom. The units of the Red Army, having an overwhelming numerical superiority, could not win this war, the outcome was: the transfer of the Kola Peninsula to the USSR, Vyborg and the border was pushed away from Murmansk. Each of the parties considered itself victorious, but this victory was very conditional and it was not accepted to talk about it. Finnish losses: ~ 26,000, Red Army losses:> 350,000.