Is this the best place to hide in a nuclear attack? Helsinki might look like a normal Nordic capital but beneath its streets is an underground city of 5,500 shelters, enough to accommodate nearly a million people in the event of a nuclear strike or attack from neighbouring Russia. Any new office or residential building over a certain size must have a bunker, the largest of which in Helsinki which can hold 11,500 people. The city is home to more than 675,000 residents. Inside these shelters are Olympic-size swimming pools with water slides, saunas, Go-Kart tracks, skate parks, churches and archery centres. Schroderus said the bunkers are even used as “rehearsal areas for heavy metal bands” — perhaps one explanation why Helsinki is one of the heavy metal capitals of the world. Helsinki is less than 200 miles from St Petersburg, and Finland has an 830-mile border with Russia, the longest Moscow shares with a Nato member. The country was under the control of the Russian empire for 108 years until 1917 and fought a bitter Winter War with the Soviet Union from 1939-40 in which it lost 10% of its territory. While the rest of Europe lowered its guard following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War, Finland remained vigilant. “We started building them [bunkers] in 1939 and never stopped,” says Jukka-Pekka Schroderus, from the City Rescue Department, which oversees the safety of Helsinki’s residents. “Under this city is a big cheese full of holes.” Finland’s network of underground shelters is part of a nationwide civil defence, called Comprehensive Security, that includes universal male conscription at 18 (it is voluntary for women); regular three-week defence courses for influential citizens from editors to chief executives; and weekend retreats for women on how to set up field kitchens and cook without electricity and spot drones. Construction companies are also kept on six-hour notice to start building fortifications. There are only enough beds to accommodate a third of the 6,000 people taking refuge in the shelter. “The idea is we are like a submarine where at any one time a third of people are resting, a third doing activities and a third on duty, cleaning,” said Schroderus. Asked if other countries like the UK are doing enough, he said: “It’s always a question of political will, public understanding, expertise and of course money. It’s not an easy task to start from zero.” #helsinki#finland#bunker#nuclear#underground - @thetimes