Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki inspected training of the Jaeger Brigade during 30.-31.3.2025.

Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki was on a working visit to Ukraine last week. The visit focused on the areas of Kiev, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia. During the visit, Lieutenant General Välimäki met leadership of the Ukrainian Army, and took note of the operating of the land forces as well as command echelons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and new capabilities. Additionally, the visit provided the opportunity to familiarise with defence industry in Ukraine.

The French and Finnish Armies are strengthening their long cooperation on training, exercises and operations. The 27th Mountain Infantry Battalion, which is trained to operate in winter conditions, will maintain a company-group with the Jaeger Brigade in Northern Finland until May.

The Finnish Defence Forces will participate in the most important series of Arctic exercises on 9-20 March 2026. Exercise Cold Response 26, led by Norway, will bring 25,000 soldiers from 14 countries to Northern parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden. The exercise is part of NATO’s enhanced presence, Arctic Sentry, which strengthens the Alliance's capability and permanent presence in the Nordic area.