Volunteering to fight in Ukraine is a major, life-changing decision. It is not an adventure, a casual commitment, or something one can easily walk away from. Yle spoke with one family who learned this first-hand.
Earlier this year, the Finnish Foreign Ministry issued a warning to volunteers heading to Ukraine, emphasising the binding nature of the service contracts.
One young man from Turku did not see the advisory in time.
Turku resident Jyrki Åland hugged his son for the last time in early January at the Kupittaa railway station.
His 20-year-old son, Leo, got the idea to volunteer as a fighter while doing his Finnish military service. According to his father, Leo was motivated by a sense of calling. The family, however, did not support his decision to become a volunteer foreign fighter.
"We talked about the dangers and urged him to consider doing something else. He felt we were pressuring him and ended up leaving even earlier than planned," Åland told Yle.
Ultimately, Leo served in Ukraine for just over four months. His father, Jyrki Åland, who chairs the Finns Party's southwest Finland district, received word of his son's death on the day of the local election, 13 April.
Leo's father said he hopes that by sharing his son's story, he can dissuade others thinking of volunteering.
A binding contract
For Finns, joining the conflict is easy. Volunteers can reach the front lines with just two bus rides from Helsinki's Kamppi terminal.
Over the past three years, more than a hundred Finns have fought in Ukraine, and roughly ten have lost their lives, according to figures from the Finnish Foreign Ministry.
After seeing his son off at the train station, it was three weeks before Jyrki Åland heard from Leo again.
I'm alive, but coming here has been a real wake-up call. It's tough. I don't plan to stay long. Coming here was a mistake."
WhatsApp message 26.1.2025
He then learned that his son had signed a service contract committing him to serve with the Ukrainian armed forces for at least six months. As a precaution, they confiscated his passport and restricted his phone use.
"It may seem noble to go and fight against the Russians, but I see no sense in young men fighting the battles of old men," Jyrki Åland said.
Jussi Tanner, the Foreign Ministry's Director General for Consular Services, said the government is aware of volunteers who changed their minds during the training period and wanted to return to Finland. Tanner noted that not all of them have been able to leave.
Earlier this year, the Foreign Ministry published guidelines for volunteer fighters, which included information about the nature of the Ukrainian service contract. It explained that the contract is a private legal agreement and may be nearly impossible to terminate.
"We have a genuine concern about mechanisms in place for volunteers to leave, should they want to," Tanner said. "In Finland, we do not accept the idea that signing a piece of paper should make someone a prisoner of their situation."
Tanner, however, acknowledged that there was generally little the ministry could do in these situations.
Åland's son never read the Finnish government's guidance since it was published after he had left Finland.
Leaving not an option
According to Jyrki Åland, his son had wanted to leave Ukraine. This is backed by messages exchanged between father and son, copies of which have been seen by Yle.
I know this experience will help me grow as a person, but it's still really tough to be here. I'm doing my best to cope. Sometimes I just don't know what I'm doing here.
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Jyrki Åland said he contacted the Finnish Foreign Ministry for help in getting his son to safety. He did everything he could to bring Leo home, but that plan ultimately failed.
After completing training in mid-February, Leo was transferred to his assigned combat unit. He seemed to grow close with the other fighters, and the tone of his messages began to lighten. He no longer spoke about coming home.
Around the same time, media reports indicated that Russia was retaking territory in the Kursk region.
"I warned him that it might be time to seriously consider coming home, as the Russians were beginning their spring offensive. He replied that he didn't think his unit would be sent to the front line."
Jyrki Åland sent the last message to his son on 9 April. Leo never wrote back.
Four days later, as he was preparing to attend his party's election night gathering, he received the news of Leo's death.
"He died somewhere in eastern Ukraine, in exactly the kind of attack he feared most — a drone strike directed by a human," Åland said.
The information about Leo’s death came from his fellow fighters. Ukrainian authorities have not officially confirmed his death.
No burial
According to Jyrki Åland, nothing in Finland could have prepared his son for what he encountered in Ukraine. Even while serving on the front lines, Leo was filling out university application forms. A 20-year-old simply isn't thinking about dying.
Leo’s decision to go to war permanently changed the lives of his family members.
Today, Åland is on sick leave from his job as a taxi driver. He said he checks every day to see whether his son's remaining belongings have been delivered to the embassy.
Those serving with Leo said there was nothing left of his body. He is classified as missing in action.
"That means that if the body cannot be identified, we won't be able to bury him. Not for at least a year," Åland explained.
After completing his military service last December, Leo had hoped to share his experiences of modern warfare with the Finnish Defence Forces.
Jyrki Åland said he now intends to honour that wish as best he can.
Finland should be using a lot more drones and change its tactics. These drones can see far, and they have thermal cameras and everything.
WhatsApp message 1.2.2025
Speaking in Vaasa on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb expressed concern over Russia's tactics in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
Stubb noted that Russia has neither accepted nor complied with the US-proposed and European-supported ceasefire, raising fears about the prolongation of the conflict.
"Russia is once again playing for time," Stubb said, stressing the need to increase pressure on the Kremlin. "A ceasefire is how to stop the killing."
