Finnish state and politicians were left confused after the Ukrainian presidential press service announced that Finland's president invited Poroshenko to visit the Mannerheim Line.
The Mannerheim Line was a series of defensive fortifications used by Finland in the 1939 Soviet-Finnish war, in which many Ukrainians fought on the Soviet side. Ukrainian media trumpeted the apparent invitation as a way for Poroshenko to study the "Finnish experience of fighting Russian aggression."
The problem is, what is left of the line of fortifications is located in modern-day Russia.
"Finnish media and politicians are surprised by the Poroshenko press service's annoncement that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto invited him to visit the Mannerheim Line. It is well known to Finns that the Mannerheim Line is located in Russia," Finnish adjunct professor in sociology of law Johan Backman told a Donbass news site.
The Ukrainian presidential press service has scrubbed the Mannerheim Line mention after the Finnish presidential press service said that Poroshenko was in fact invited to visit several places in Finland, which included the Mannerheim Museum. The museum is dedicated to the former Finnish leader Gustaf Mannerheim, who the line of fortifications is named after.
Ukraine's President Poroshenko previously talked about the necessity of a Ukrainian "Mannerheim Line" in September 2014.
