Shelling of Mainila

60°15′08″N 29°51′12″E / 60.25222°N 29.85333°E / 60.25222; 29.85333

"Mainila" redirects here. Not to be confused with Manila or Bombing of Manila.
Location of Mainila on the Karelian Isthmus shown in relation to the pre-war Finnish-Soviet border.

The Shelling of Mainila (Finnish: Mainilan laukaukset, Swedish: Skotten i Mainila), or the Mainila incident (Russian: Ма́йнильский инциде́нт, romanized: Máynil'skiy intsidént), was a military incident on 26 November 1939 in which the Soviet Union's Red Army shelled the Soviet village of Mainila (Russian: Ма́йнило, romanized: Máynilo) near Beloostrov. The Soviet Union declared that the fire originated from Finland across the nearby border and claimed to have had losses in personnel. Through that false flag operation, the Soviet Union gained a great propaganda boost and a casus belli for launching the Winter War four days later.[1][2]

Historians have now concluded that the shelling of Mainila was a fabrication carried out by the Soviet NKVD state security agency.[3]

  1. ^ Edwards, Robert (2006). White Death: Russia's War With Finland 1939-40. Phoenix. p. 105. ISBN 9780753822470.
  2. ^ Turtola, Martti (1999). "Kansainvälinen kehitys Euroopassa ja Suomessa 1930-luvulla". In Leskinen, Jari; Juutilainen, Antti (eds.). Talvisodan pikkujättiläinen. pp. 44–45.
  3. ^ False flags: What are they and when have they been used?, BBC News, 18 February 2022, retrieved 23 February 2022