The initiative, launched jointly with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal , targets the construction of 5,300 shelters by 2030. Ukraine currently lacks adequate protection for much of its population, with only 47 percent covered by existing bomb shelter infrastructure. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo visited Kyiv on Wednesday to formalise a new international coalition aimed at building thousands of civil defence shelters in Ukraine.

“This partnership will focus on expertise, planning, and construction,” Orpo told Finnish media during the visit. “Finnish companies have an important role to play in designing resilient civil protection systems.” The idea for the coalition emerged earlier this year after Ukrainian officials toured civilian shelters in Finland. Talks between the two countries intensified following President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Helsinki in March.

At the signing ceremony, Shmyhal thanked Finland for its support and encouraged other nations to join the coalition to speed up shelter construction. According to Ukraine’s plan, 2,300 shelters are to be built by 2027 and another 3,000 by the end of the decade. Orpo also visited a recently upgraded school shelter in Kyiv and praised Ukrainians’ efforts to maintain education under the threat of daily airstrikes.

“It shows how people continue life here in the midst of war,” he said. Earlier in the day, Orpo toured the facilities of Finnish fast food chain Hesburger in Boryspil, which reopened operations in Ukraine in March. He later laid a wreath at a memorial wall for war casualties and held talks with Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament.

The day also included a visit to a residential area hit by a Russian missile strike on 24 April, which killed 12 and wounded 90. There, Orpo met with Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, and a rescue dog named Zenit, who helped locate survivors in the rubble. Wednesday’s visit was Orpo’s second official trip to Ukraine since taking office.

He previously visited Kyiv in August 2023 to participate in the Crimea Platform summit. Zelensky was not in the capital during Orpo’s visit, as he was in Berlin for meetings with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had visited Finland a day earlier. The Finnish Prime Minister used the occasion to reaffirm Finland’s long-term support for Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction, and reiterated that Russia's ongoing attacks show no signs of a genuine effort to reach peace.

HT