The most interesting little-known islands of the Gulf of Finland. Vyborg Bay. Ruins of ancient buildings and piers Patterned Vyborg Bay Island

Peschany Island, located among other islands of the Vyborg Bay, is favorite place recreation for water tourists. The name of the island speaks for itself. The island has a long, shallow bay, surrounded on all sides by trees, which ends in a sandy beach.

The uniqueness of the place contributes to a large number of vacationers. Moreover, both residents of Vyborg who come by boats and boats, and tourists living at the Essari base on neighboring island Leading worker.

In recent years, water tourists have become more careful about the cleanliness of the islands, but in previous years a lot of garbage has accumulated on the islands. It is worth noting that centralized garbage collection on the islands of the Vyborg Bay is not organized.

At the end of June this year, a group of deputies of the city of Vyborg, having gathered a team of volunteers, held an eco-cleanup day on Peschany Island and collected about a hundred bags of garbage. The huge amount of human waste posed a problem: how to remove it all.

For more than a week, while the organizational issue was being resolved, the bags lay on the island.

As a result, Vyborg yachtsmen from the Favorit yacht club, Cape Bobrovy, joined in removing garbage from the island.

For several days we waited out the stormy weather, which inopportunely came to our region after a hot June. Having chosen a calmer day, without rain, on the evening of July 6, teams of six yachts managed to remove all the garbage from the island on boats. The yachts “Urania”, “Melody”, “Lyudmila”, “Yakhtika”, “Rodina” and “Talisman” took part in the “operation”.

During the Empire, on Ovchinny, which was then called Nikolaevsky, the garrison of a mine station built a small Orthodox church. Like other buildings on the island, it disappeared in the flames of war in the spring of 1940. Only fragments of the foundation and fence have been preserved, and in the spring the lilacs, planted a long time ago at the entrance, bloom.

The last parishioners of the church were Cossacks from the Life Guards Cossack Regiment and the Imperial Convoy who went to Finland after the Bolshevik coup in 1918. and participants of the Kronstadt uprising who left across the ice to Terijoki. In 1918-24. Ovchinny-Turkinsaari became an analogue of the Turkish Gallipoli and the Greek Lemnos. In the mid-20s. The Finnish military began to settle on the island and the camp was moved. Archives with data about the new resettlement site were lost during the war.

Fort letter "B" of the Vyborg fortress, built before the First World War

Vyborg, the first personnel forge armed forces Finland. The building was built in 1914 by military engineer Glushkov for the Russian theological seminary, founded as part of the Russification program in Finland. In 1918, a training unit of the Finnish troops, nicknamed the Markovilla School, was located here. The name came from the builder of the nearby villa, Markus Wright. During the Soviet period, the building housed the tuberculosis hospital of the Ministry of Defense.

The Ronkaa estate near Vyborg, built in 1846-48. Nowadays the tuberculosis sanatorium "Vyborg-7"

Bunker No. 19 Line "T" was built already during the Winter War, taking into account the lack of time and analysis of the destruction of bunkers on the Mannerheim Line. Roof thickness 3m.

Now butterflies spend the winter in the bunker.

Anti-tank ditch in rock formations.

Evening in Vyborg. The castle is finally without scaffolding.

Vyborg Bay is a bay that juts deep into the shore in the northern part of the Gulf of Finland Baltic Sea. It got its name from the city of Vyborg, located in the northernmost part of the bay.
There are quite a lot of different ancient (and not so ancient) buildings in the bay. Let's stop at some of them.

Cape South Spear (Keihasniemi)

Judging by the Finnish map, along the entire northeastern coast of the peninsula, from Cape Keihasniemi itself, now South Kopje, there were land, on which numerous buildings were located. The shore is lined with granite, closer to the tip of the cape there is a long granite pier. A little to the east there is a small, also made of stones, closed harbor with a small passage for boats. From the pier, steps lead to the shore, where a path goes past the foundations of destroyed buildings.

Pier at Cape South Spear (Keihasniemi)

There are decent gaps between the blocks, but in places where they fit tightly, the blocks are fitted along a curved plane.

Closed harbor at Cape South Spear

During the summer:

Tura Tower on Verkholaz Island (Korkeasaari)

Externally, the tower really resembles a classic chess tour. Its history is unknown to us. On some maps it is marked as a monument of the 14th century. The arrangement of the windows suggests that perhaps earlier a spiral staircase ran upward along the inner wall of the tower.
It is clearly visible that the tower was rebuilt and repaired many times - some of the seams between the stones were sealed with modern mortar, and a concrete platform on metal rails is visible at the top. The stones of the upper tier are fastened with metal brackets.

Ruins of the Suur-Merijoki manor

Mexican style

Estate foundation. It's clear that brick walls lined with granite

For what purpose was it necessary to cut and move such facing slabs? A strange combination of brick and granite.

Estimated composition of the megalithic complex of the Vyborg Bay.
Already discovered objects.
1. Ring complex in Mon Repos Park.
2. Northern rock reflector in Mon Repos Park.
3. Ring complex in Zimino on the Lohaniemi Peninsula.
4. Ring complex on the islands of Big and Small Shield and Neighbor.
5. Southern terraced reflector on the islands of Big and Small Shield and Neighboring.
6. Western terrace reflector on the Keihasniemi Peninsula.
7. Western reflector wall on the Keihasniemi Peninsula.
Proposed objects of the megalithic complex of the Vyborg Bay.
1. Ring complex on the Ala Somme peninsula southwest of Sokolinskoye village.
2. Ring complex in the north-west of the Keihasniemi Peninsula on the isthmus in
side of the village of Podberezye.
3. Ring complex south of the village of Podberezye.
4. Ring complex in the Vysotsk area on the islands of Krepysh and Peredovik.
5. Ring complex in the area of ​​Shcherbakovo.
6. Southern and northern reflectors about. Vysotsky.
Destroyed objects of the megalithic complex of the Vyborg Bay.
1. Ring complex in Vyborg opposite the Annensky fortifications.
2. Ring complex in the area of ​​the Sorvali cemetery.(?)
3. Southern terraced reflector of the rocky foundations of Mon Repos Park and the southern
coast of Tverdysh Island (?)

This archipelago in the northern part of the Gulf of Finland includes three “birch” islands: Bolshoi, Western and Northern and more than a dozen small islands. During the Great Patriotic War there was a Finnish garrison here, and until the end of the 40s, each island was Finnish name. Nowadays, only the name of the strait separating the archipelago from the mainland - Björkesund - reminds us of its former belonging to Finnish territory. Now on the Birch Islands there is a wonderful reserve of the same name, where fish is found in abundance, ducks and swans nest, and both common and rare representatives of the flora grow.

Located in the Vyborg Bay, for a long time it was known only to history buffs and radio amateurs. Russian fortifications were erected here in the mid-19th century, and a Finnish artillery battery was located here from 1917 until the Second World War. At the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries, Alexander Popov tested his wireless telegraph on the islands of the archipelago, and from 1963 to 2012, Maly Vysotsky Island was leased from Finland. During this period, specialized expeditions to Maly Vysotsky, which did not belong to Finland, but temporarily did not belong to Russia, were popular among radio amateurs, and where a special call sign was used for communication sessions.

This small granite island, located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, has such rich history, that a whole article is not enough to describe everything, so we will limit ourselves to just a few interesting facts. Stone Age sites and sacred objects dating back 5-7 thousand years BC were discovered here. On the island in 1900, Popov conducted the first practical radio communication sessions - to serve the rescue expedition to remove the battleship Admiral General Apraksin from the stones. Before the revolution, Gogland was one of the most popular places for yacht travel. And although the island is considered one of the most dangerous places for shipping in the Baltic, local residents have long been considered excellent sailors and were willingly hired as sailors on sailing ships.

Relatively large island– as the name suggests. Until 1917, it was densely populated, and its fleet consisted of about 80 ships carrying out transportation between Russia, Finland and Sweden. After Finland gained independence, the volume of traffic fell sharply, and Moshchny became one of the smuggling points. Now, apart from three lighthouses, nothing reminds of the former port life - on the island there is only a small border outpost with a radio technical post and a post for illuminating the surface and underwater situation of the Leningrad naval base.

Two nearby islands in the central part of the Gulf of Finland. Bolshoi Tyuters has long been known as the “island of death.” During World War II, the Germans mined it; in subsequent years, several attempts were made to clear the island of mines, but only the last seventh was successful. In 2005, Russian and Swedish specialists neutralized more than 30 thousand explosive objects. There are lighthouses on both islands, and members of the staff are the only inhabitants of Tyuters, with the exception of the ringed seal, which is very common on Maly.

A small island in Klyuchevskaya Bay, Vyborg district, is perhaps one of the calmest and greenest on our list. There are beautiful forests with plenty of mushrooms and berries, clean shores along which all kinds of fish swim and spawn. And since there are no conservation restrictions, the island is quite popular place recreation, but local residents are increasingly complaining about poachers and uncultured tourists.

Peter the Great once gave this rocky island in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland to his jester Jan Lacoste along with the mocking title of “Samoyed King.” After this, the jester began to appear at balls wearing a tall tin crown, pushed over one ear, which greatly amused the St. Petersburg aristocracy. However, after the death of the Tsar, Lacoste lost his possessions: it turned out that instead of a seal, Peter the Great’s charter on the granting of the island included... a ruble. Well, after that, Yan was generally exiled to Siberia, because he was plotting against the all-powerful temporary worker Menshikov.

The next time the island made its mark in Russian history was during the Great Patriotic War, and this happened under very tragic circumstances. In June 1942, Sommers, captured by Finnish troops, was recklessly landed by amphibious assault. The desperate battle lasted for three days, but the poor planning of the operation prevailed over the steadfastness and courage of the Soviet soldiers. Of the one and a half thousand Red Navy men who landed on this piece of land, none survived. The island was only liberated after Finland left the war in 1944.

The most amazing thing is that the Gulf of Finland has its own Virgin Islands - practically namesakes Virgin Islands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. South Virgin is especially interesting: it contains a mysterious round labyrinth of pebbles, built by ancient people. This labyrinth is called Paris: some say that in honor of the intricate streets of Paris, others say that this name comes from the Swedish word Paris, that is, church parish, and reflects the sacred essence of this place.

September 3rd, 2017

Turkinsaari -walk along the side of the road.

TurkinsaariorOvchinny Island is located approximately ten kilometers southwest of Vyborg.

The island is one and a half kilometers long and about three hundred meters wide. In some places there is an outcropping of rocks, in some the area is low-lying and partially swampy.

The island was covered with lush vegetation with a predominance of coniferous species of pine and spruce.
Turkinsaaribegan to develop in the second half of the 19th century. Then several barracks buildings, an ammunition depot and a small Orthodox chapel were erected on the island.

In independent Finland, the island became state property; participants of the Kronstadt uprising, as well as refugees from Izhora and Karelia who fled persecution, were interned there in 1921-22.
Among the internees were also Kuban Cossacks from the Life Guards Cossack Regiment and the Imperial Convoy.
A memorial cross erected near the first pier reminds of this.

In the first years of independence, the Finnish Air Force's aviation development focused on seaplanes. After considering possible options for placing seaplanes in the Vyborg Bay, it was decided to invest in two projects onTurkinsaariVyborg Bay andTervaniemiV Vyborg.

On TurkinsaariRWork began in the summer of 1926 and the following year flights from the island became possible.
New objects appeared on the island, some were rebuilt, for example, a new permanent building appeared on the site of the Orthodox chapel, according to some information - a house for officers or a house for bachelors.

The development of the Air Force in the early years was very rapid, which is reflected by the constant changes in the name of the air base. It was called: 3 Separate Naval Squadron, Naval Squadron, Airport, 4 Squadron.

There was a boat service on the island and the Uura ferry operatedn ( Vysotsky Island) - Turkinsaari, a bridge was subsequently built onPiispansaari (Podberezovy Island)with access to the Vyborg-Hamina highway.

PInitially, the air base housed 13 German Hansa-Brandenburg aircraft produced under license in Finland.

But the situation with them was tense, the quality of the equipment was ambiguous.
In the early thirties, 12 Blackburn Ripons were put into operation - English-built vehicles, which formed the main core of the squadron based onTurkinsaari.

These machines were also produced in Finland under license from1931 at the factoryValtionlentokonetehdas (VL, Finnish State Aircraft Factory)VTampere .

A short ten-minute film about how hot Finnish guys sail on these slow-moving airships over the Vyborg Bay, in the waters of which sometimes quite cute mermaids are discovered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeNo4XHmx_E

At the turn of the 20-30s, observing daily flights of up to a dozen Hansa-Brandenburg aircraft was a common occurrence in the Vyborg Bay. Training at the aviation school for pilots and instructors sent to sea airports included about 24 hours of flight training at a sea airfieldTurkinsaari.

Accidents could not be avoided due to poor training and pilot errors, technical malfunctions, as well as lack of flight discipline.

There were a total of four fatalities, killing eight Finnish Air Force pilots.

The first and most tragic was the disaster of 1928. Hansa-Brandenburg, when the engine failed, touched the roof of the Finnish lyceum and the car fell in the middle of Torkkelinkatudied in the process two pedestrians.

Airbase Turkinsaari, like other units of the Finnish Air Force, trained pilots and technicians, developed skills in the combat use of aviation, which was reflected in certain achievements in battles with superior enemy forces in the Winter War and its Continuation.

Several photographs from the personal archive of Miikki Rauhala (Miikki Rauhala), whose grandfather served at the hydroairfieldTurkinsaarifrom April 1934 to May 1935 as an assistant mechanic.

Distinctive insignia worn by pilots and airbase workers.

In the second half of the 1930s, priority was given to the development of land airfields.

Air base onTurkinsaariwas disbanded in 1938.

The island was a partially closed military zone, it had its own hospital, several commercial organizations, a small stadium, and a radio station.

Turkinsaariwas very popular in summer season, it was visited by sailing, motor, and rowing ships.

Islandwas completely destroyed during the Winter War. Trees and buildings were literally swept away by Soviet artillery and air strikes.

The landscape resembled a lunar one, the ground was dotted with craters from shells and bombs, only here and there stood lonely tree trunks, devoid of crowns.

Not a single building survived; the vegetation was completely destroyed.

They said that there were only three trees left on the island that were not damaged by shrapnel.

Turkinsaariwas lost at the very end of the Winter War on March 9th.

During the Continuation of the War, nothing was restored, except that the Finns turned it into a fortified area - one of the lines of defense of the archipelago at the entrance to the Vyborg Bay.
This is what the island looked like in June 1942.

Turkinsaariwas an important defense facility of the Vyborg Bay and the coastal strip, the defenders of which were well aware that its surrender would lead the enemy to the mainland and the encirclement of Finnish troops to the west and north of Vyborg would become inevitable. The path opens deep into Finland

But during the continuation of the war in June-July 1944, Soviet troops failed to capture the island.

At the end of June - beginning of July 1944, after the fall of Vyborg, Soviet troops made three attempts to build on their success.

I talked about the first - the attack on Ikhantala in Part 68 of the Vyborg ruins.

The second attempt, the Vyborg landing operation, began on June 30, 1944, with the help of two rifle divisions - 124 and 224, which were part of the 59th Army.

Within ten days, they managed to capture the islands of the archipelago in the area of ​​the Pilsky and Trongsund Straits.

However, attempts to land on the islandsTurkinsaari, undertaken on July 5-7, 1944, failed.

5 Julythree forces of the 185th Infantry Regiment, numbering up to a battalion, tried to attack from the islandsRavansaari ( Maly Vysotsky ) and Uura n(Vysotsky Island).

Used for landing40-50 rowing boats. The landing attempt failed and the battalion was destroyed by small arms and artillery fire. Finnish losses were one dead and 25 wounded.

In the evening of the same day, Soviet troops again tried to attack in two groups of 12 boats, under the cover of an armored boat, but this attack was repulsed.

On July 6 at 19.50 an attempt was made to land troops again. This time, Soviet troops were able to land on the island, but this landing force also died in an oncoming battle.

The Finns lost more than 30 people and were forced to call in reinforcements of 283 people from the reserve, mostly elderly.

On July 5 and 7, attempts were made to land on the neighboringHannustiensaari, where a coastal artillery position was established back in the second half of the 19th century, both ended in failure.

On the morning of July 5, 12-15 rowing boats with troops attempted to land onNannustiensaari, but six boats were destroyed by artillery fire and about the same number from small arms. A number of fighters landed on the shore, but by noon the landing force was eliminated. At about 1300 about ten boats again attempted to land. This time, only one ship was destroyed; Soviet Army soldiers landed on the rocky beach from the rest.

But in a fierce oncoming battle they all died. There were several more attempts to capture the island. But they all turned out to be ineffective.

with the support of two armored boats they launched a new invasion.

Two ships were destroyed by anti-tank gun fire. A fire broke out on four more and they sank, the rest moved away.

In the following days, on July 8 and 9, attempts were made to land troops onHarjuniemi(Cape Shatunok),Koivusaari(Bereznik island), Essaari(Prodolny Island)AndNiemilauta ( capeFlat).

Managed to land only on the west bankNiemilauta, but through the efforts of units of the 122nd German division, which was part of V army corps, the landing force was destroyed.

Before landing, powerful artillery strikes were carried out on the positions of Finnish and German troops1st Guards Red Banner Krasnoselskaya naval railway artillery brigade, which includedthree 180 mm guns and eight 130 mm guns.

However, here too all attempts were unsuccessful. At distant approaches, tenders and armored boats were destroyed by artillery fire; at close ranges, German and Finnish troops used faust cartridges, which, if they directly hit the tender, had no chance of survival for the landing party.

In total, when attempting to land onHarjuniemi, KoivusaariAndEssaari bAbout 14 tenders were sunk, each of which could carry up to 56 paratroopers.

On the afternoon of July 9, another convoy of 28 tenders and armored boats (apparently the main landing body) was spotted, but it went to the sideUuras(Vysotsk) after it became clear that the first wave of landings had failed.

In a short period of fighting, both sides lost a large number of personnel.

We can say that the islands of the Vyborg archipelago are abundantly watered with blood, and thousands of Soviet soldiers died in the waters of the Vyborg Bay, paying for the great victory with their lives.

In total, the V Finnish Army Corps (armeijakunta) lost 4,400 people killed, wounded and missing on the islands and on the mainland between 06/22/07/12/1944.

Coastal artillery casualties totaled 628, of whom 297 were killed.

The 122nd German division lost about 600 people.

The Estonian 200th Infantry Regiment lost 17 killed and 32 wounded.

Losses Soviet troops were also considerable:

224th Rifle Division, June 30 - July 9, 1944: total losses were 2,623 people, of which 1,280 were killed, 1,167 wounded and 176 missing. Thus, the total losses amounted to about half of its composition.

124th Infantry Division, at the beginning of the Vyborg landing operation there were 5,041 people in it, and by July 9 its number had decreased to 4,626 people. This implies a casualty rate of 415 during this time period.

The units that suffered the heaviest losses in this battle were:

The 406th Infantry Regiment of the 124th Infantry Division, which, according to statistics from July 3-12, 1944, suffered a total of 473 casualties, of which 191 were killed, 269 wounded and 13 missing, this regiment fought on the islandTeikarinsaari(Igriviy Island)5'th of July.

160th Infantry Regiment of the 224th Infantry Division. This unit, which made an unsuccessful landing on the islands of Teikarinsaari (Playful Island) and Melansaari (Stern Island) on July 4, 1944, had 1266 personnel, of which 1135 people took part in the landing, lost 1027 people.




1st Battalion 260th Marine Rifle Brigade lost 55 men missing on 3 July 1944, possibly during the Teikarinsaari landings

The Finnish side also suffered heavy losses in the defense of Teikarinsaari: 300 killed and 530 wounded or missing.

Despite heavy losses and the capture of the islands, the main goal of the landing operation - landing on the Finnish mainland, seizing a bridgehead and developing an offensive on Helsinki - was not achieved.

Historian Mark Solonin discusses the reasons for the failure of the Vyborg landing operation:

“And, indeed, the landing began, but it was disrupted. It is impossible to understand, but it was disrupted by Finnish bomber aircraft. Finnish bomber aviation in the amount of 66 aircraft - it is clear what it was, these were English Blenheims born in 1940

and Soviet captured SB

This bomber aviation, without losing a single aircraft, bombed and with its bombing strike disrupted the Soviet landing, despite the fact that we had 489 fighters there, not counting the Baltic Fleet Air Force.”http://echo.msk.ru/programs/victory/500038-echo/

Perhaps the actions of Finnish bomber aircraft were of great importance in the disruption of the Vyborg landing operation, butbasicsnewThe reasons for the failure were most likely poor technical and organizational preparedness for the landing operation, as well as the lack of experience in amphibious landing operations among the majority of the units involved.

Having taken Vyborg 11 days after the start of hostilities, for which the commander of the Leningrad Front Govorov was awarded the rank of marshal during the operation, the command decided that the enemy was completely demoralized and was not capable of providing significant resistance.

On the very day when Vyborg was occupied, the following order from Govorov was signed: “Continue the offensive no later than June 26, with the main forces to capture the line of Imatra, Lapeenranta, Vereyeki.” It is important that these names mean: this is already Finnish territory that did not become part of the USSR after the Winter War.

It is clear that the subsequent task was to continue the offensive to the south and west, that is, deep into Finland.

To achieve this, it was planned to act in three directions:

Tali-Ikhantala-Enso (Svetogorsk),




landing on the archipelago at the entrance to the Vyborg Bay with subsequent access to the mainland,




crossing the Vuoksi River in the area of ​​rapids with access toKäkisalmi(Priozersk).

None of these operations can be called successful.

Soviet historians called the Vyborg operation of the Leningrad Front the fourth Stalinist strike out of ten that led to victory.

The Finns responded to Stalin’s blow, as Mark Solonin figuratively says, with three slaps in the face, which predetermined the result of the Soviet-Finnish war.

The Vyborg landing operation, as I already indicated, was carried out mainly by the forces of two rifle divisions, 124 and 224, which were part of the 59th Army, infantry simply transferred to rowing boats, tenders and armored boats from among the forces of the Kronstadt naval defensive region assigned to the 59th Army.

The only professionals for such operations could be considered only the reconnaissance officers of the 260th Marine Rifle Brigade, and even they suffered heavy losses during the landing.

Over four years, the Finnish side has significantly strengthened its defenseislands, sectors of possible landing directions were targeted, the approaches to them were blocked by minefields.

In addition, after the loss of the Björk archipelago, the remaining German and Finnish ships and boats were transferred to the Vyborg Bay. Coastal artillery consisted of 131 barrels.

Often, Soviet tenders and armored boats simply could not approach the shore, being blown up by mines and suffering losses from air strikes, coastal artillery fire, anti-tank rifles and snipers.

There were cases of death from their own artillery fire.

This is the real price of victory.

CurrentlyTurkinsaariuninhabited, nature has hidden roads and ruins.

The remains of the second slip from which seaplanes went into the sky have been preserved.

On its left side you can find a circular concrete parapet for an anti-aircraft gun or machine gun position.

The second hangar has not survived.
We climb up the mossy concrete steps to former road, leading to the right - to the first slipway and hangar, to the left - to the first ferry berth.

Moving to the right, we pass by the house of technical staff (or a former repair shop?), the foundation of which, overgrown with acacia, stands almost at the very shore.

Perhaps these are the remains of a foundation for extending an antenna or a flagpole.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to find traces of the radio station building.

Next we go to the building of the former mine laboratory, the construction of which is considered to be 1915. The presence of embrasures is evidence of the dual purpose of the building, not only as a storage facility, but also as a protective structure.

Directly opposite was the first slip, which had two ramps and a hangar. There is nothing left of the hangar; the boundaries of the slips can still be determined by the concrete walls.

The position of the anti-aircraft gun is also revealed here.

next to it on the opposite bank are the ruins of another pier.

View ofPiispansaari,to the rocky islandssimply mesmerizing.

From the barracks, hospital, canteen and sauna, “bachelor hotel”, former residential buildings, shops, at best, concrete foundations overgrown with moss have been preserved.

Perhaps these are the ruins of a hospital:

Once upon a time, this staircase led to the second floor of a building made of wood.

Once upon a time, even in the post-war period, there was water in a deep well.

Judging by the location, these are the ruins of a store and the remains of a well.

Now the island is an area overgrown with virgin taiga,

in which you feel like a stalker exploring an unknown world in which once upon a time people just like you loved and hated, laughed and cried.

This destroyed world turned out to be unclaimed, except for nature, which, it seems, alone is trying to restore beauty as she understands it, healing the wounds inflicted on it by an unreasonable person,homo non sapiens.

And again the question arises, why did these thousands of soldiers die if the territory they conquered remains in ruins and desolation?

Why did we allow that even the surviving buildings are being destroyed before our eyes, and that the little that has been preserved, for which thousands and thousands of lives were given, is torn away from the majority and is the property of a few who have created a special little world for themselves?

The rest are destined for the curb - uninhabited islands, dying villages and depressed cities.

Videos about visiting Turkinsaari:
https://youtu.be/dWSwblr4CDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hIXdkMiMeE
https://youtu.be/r-Y7nZ9khmQ