This was a Thriving Finnish Town. Then the Soviets Came. 🇫🇮 🇷🇺

Join me on a trip from Moscow to the border with Finland as I intend to explore the town of Vyborg, a place with strong historical significance.

The Arctic regions of Russia are commonly referred to as the "Far North". It consists of a large part of Russia, located mainly north of the Arctic Circle, which boasts enormous mineral and natural resources.

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Vyborg was founded by the Swedes in 1403 as Wyborg, and throughout the course of its history it has been under control of various administrations. The most recent change in the sovereignty of Vyborg occurred in 1944, when following the Winter War between the USSR and Finland, the whole region was transferred back to the Soviet Union.

The Finnish name for Vyborg was, and still is, Viipuri. However, very little is left of the Finnish identity of the town: during the war, the entire Finnish population of Viipuri/Vyborg was relocated to other regions of Finland, to better accommodate the Finnish military fighting on the battlefront. Even after the conclusion of the war, the town was repopulated by bringing entire Russian families from other regions of the Soviet Union. This is also the reason why Finland is not too interested in the Viipuri/Vyborg question and realizes that asking for the region to be transferred back under Finnish control would be highly unfeasible. Even when not taking diplomacy into account, even if Vyborg was indeed to become Finnish overnight all Finland would gain would be a town full of Russians who don't speak Finnish and who don't have any interest in assimilating.

Also, the town of Vyborg is far from being the prosperous town that Viipuri once was. Viipuri was at one point the second largest city in the whole of Finland, second only to Helsinki. And it was a nice town full of Finnish elements, when it came to its architecture. However, the urban elements that are familiar and reminiscent of many other Finnish towns are visibly decaying, and they are combined with newer Soviet architecture. Most Finns are sad when visiting the town as they believe that after 70 years of Russian care, the town looks visibly unkempt.

That is essentially why I decided to jump on an early morning flight from Moscow to Saint Petersburg and then continue further towards the border with Finland. I wanted to see with my own eyes how Vyborg, formerly known as Viipuri, looks nowadays.

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Here's where I stand as of now:

Moscow ✔️
Moscow Oblast' ✔️
Saint Petersburg ✔️
Leningradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Vladimirskaya Oblast' ✔️
Yaroslavskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ivanovskaya Oblast' ✔️
Krasnodarskij Kraj ✔️
Tulskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tatarstan Republic ✔️
Tverskaya Oblast' ✔️
Nizhegorodskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kaluzhskaya Oblast' ✔️
Murmanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ryazanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Astrakhanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kalmykia Republic ✔️
Volgogradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Bryanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Udmurtia Rebublic ✔️
Yekaterinburgskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tyumenskaya Oblast' ✔️

Which means I'm at 22/85. Still 63 to go! Hopefully a lifetime will be enough ⚠️

#davelegenda #russia​​​​ #TheRussianSeries​​​​

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[davetheinspiration]

Hi guys, Davide here. Hope you enjoyed this historical excursion into Vyborg. Instagram is @davelegenda

ALSO, I recently opened a Patreon (Find the link in the description) ❗❗❗

On Patreon, you will be able to enjoy extra content in the form of:
- exclusive full-length videos from Russia and the Former Soviet Union
- blooper scenes and funny moments
- deleted scenes

[JutiMayranen]

Vyborg (then known as Viipuri) was one of biggest cities in Finland and was a very prosperous place. So sad to see it in this condition. The city basically was ignored and left to rot.

[ikiwe]

As a finn i too can appreciate how much you digged in our history and covered that on your video. I never even knew how bad shape Viipuri is now a days. Hard to believe that this was one of the biggest cities in Finland. Jesus the whole town looks almost abandoned right now..

[sampohonkala]

Thanks for the video; this is the home town of my mother. She started school in Viipuri, had to leave the town and everything behind in 1939; only light luggage was allowed.

[aivisabele]

This is how whole Finland was supposed to look. To all finns - your grandfather's were heroes. Greetings from Baltics.

(a lot of pro-soviet shittroll comments inside)

[dehaviland]

My grandmother was the first woman to get a driving license in Viipuri.

[iheardthunder]

As a estonian this is sad to see but also we are so proud of finns that they mostly kept their country.

[DrBreezeAir]

Being Russian, this is really embarrassing to watch. Huge sorry to our Finnish neighbours.

[TelaKalleoy]

Tikkurila Is Finnish paint manufacturer and it is huge and one of a kind in a world with one other in USA. Their paint is best. Ps. They also make other chemicals.

[MayorOfKenya]

The most frustrating thing about it is that a 100 000 Finns and 500 000-1 000 000 Russians died so the Soviets could let the city become a ruin.

[Sokol]

As a Czech I must tell you a secret, although not everyone will admit it. Here in the Czech Republic, everyone is looking up and pay deep respects to Suomi, because you did exactly what we couldn't. You fought for your country at the right time, and now you are prosperous.

[l.a.raustadt]

Greeting's from Minneapolis Minnesota USA. Many of us here are of Finnish heritage and love learning this history. Thank you for a look at Vyborg! Chow!

[markusrantanen]

Vyborg was the second largest city of Finland before WW2.

[fnt]

Same happened in Narva, Estonia. It once was a beautiful city but during the war it got bombed to shit. And instead of rebuilding it, the soviets built their commie blocks in it. Nowadays all estonians are ashamed of the once beautiful city.

[Xerdoz]

Viipuri was a very international city in the early 1900s. There were also a lot of Germans and Swedes at the time.

[roopepohjanen]

Wow, great vid 👍!
As a finn, I really appreciate the digging you have done for the video and your interest in Viipuris history, keep it up 💪

[geothon]

When Soviets wanted to repopulate areas that were not Russian before, they moved in people from failing areas of Russia. And this is reflected in the change that these people brought with them years later.

[pragueexpat]

Russia itself is, aside from few big cities, a huge wasteland full of abandoned towns and villages.

[Giorgi.Koberidze]

If this city were a part of Finland today it would be one of the greatest and outstanding in terms of education and economy. But Russia has a style when it comes to renovating and reinvigorating the captured territories and it is called Potemkin Village, in other words, there won't be anything worthy to that place - only poor and despair.

[suorsah]

This one makes me sad as Finnish...I can see that city shining ang looking great if we still owned it. No hate to Russia/Russians what so ever.