Twenty-six-year-old Alexandra Myagkova and 18-year-old Gleb Shumaev have things in common - they both have Russian roots and they both want to build their lives in Finland.

Myagkova moved from Moscow to the Finnish city of Joensuu just three months ago and is still confident about her decision to do so.

"I am studying to be a baker and confectioner and want to find work here," she said, adding that she's not homesick.

Meanwhile, Shumaev has lived much of his young life in Finland, moving with his parents from the city of Petrozavodsk (Petroskoi in Finnish) when he was just five years old. He thinks Finland is a safe and free place to live.

"Finland supports its citizens, and what I can say about politics at the age of 18 is that I feel this country is right for me," Shumaev explained.

However, despite their different backgrounds, he and Myagkova share something else - they've both realised that truly getting into Finnish society is not exactly a trouble-free endeavour.

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Despite Shumaev having attended Finnish schools, fluently speaking the language and being very familiar with Finnish society and culture, he still often feels like an outsider.

"It seems that when people hear the name Gleb, they immediately think that talking to that person is harder than talking to a Finn," he explained.

Myagkova began studying the Finnish language while she was still in Moscow and said that speaking it can be stressful but still manages daily life using it.

"I try to talk, talk and talk. It is important to me to be able to speak Finnish well," she said.

However, when dealing with Finnish authorities, the language barrier is still high, and interactions with them are not made any easier due to the differences between the way things are done in Finland and Russia.

Largest foreign minority

According to Statistics Finland, more than 90,000 people with Russian or Soviet Union backgrounds lived in Finland at the end of last year, which makes that population demographic the largest foreign minority in the country.

Even though the Russian-background population is larger than that of the entire population of the city of Pori, the group is often left on the margins of society, according to research.

A couple of years ago, a study from the University of Helsinki found that merely having a Russian surname makes it more difficult to get invited for a job interview than it is for people with Finnish names.

For nearly two decades, Olga Davydova-Minguet, a professor of Russian and border studies at the University of Eastern Finland, has studied migration, the eastern border as well as Finnish and Russian media.

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She has noticed that tensions between Finns and Russians in Finland have increased, most recently due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

Prior to the global outbreak, traffic across the eastern border was brisk in both directions. But now, travellers need a valid reason as well as proof of being free of the disease. Infection rates in Russia have been high, which has also made it easy for people to think that everyone crossing the border could be infected, according to Davydova-Minguet.

History also weighs in

Although Finland gained independence more than a century ago, the Independence Day holiday reminds citizens and residents alike about the sacrifices of war heroes and victims. At the same time, the image of Russians as being an enemy of Finland is renewed every 6 December.

Similar memories lurk on the other side of the border, according to Davydova-Minguet, who said that the occupation and concentration camps in Russia's Republic of Karelia are being highlighted.

In contemporary terms, the professor said that Russian speakers in Finland live under two conflicting views of the world. They often follow news from Russian outlets and social media, with vastly different values offered by Western media and social platforms.

"If there was an elephant in the room during the Crimean crisis in 2014, then now there are several elephants," she said, adding that Russians in Finland have learned to avoid discussing difficult topics.

A multicultural advocacy group in Joensuu, called Jomoni, aims to help immigrants realise their legal rights as well as ensure their voices are heard in society.

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The outfit has organised a discussion group for young people with Russian backgrounds and youth counsellor Nella Niemi said peer support for this group is important because a large proportion of them live alone in Finland without nearby family members or a safety net.

Sometimes they don't even know where to reach out for help, she explained.

"If you're left alone and can't find your place [in society], exclusion can happen very easily," Niemi said, adding that the Jomoni group is a place where people can ask for guidance.

Katja Radkevich, who leads the group of Russian-background youths, said the topics of discussion can be very mundane, like what to do if you get sick or how to get a library card.

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"I help them find the information and they talk about their experiences," she said.

The group often discusses things that young people from Finland also would, according to 18-year-old Gleb Shumaev.

"We are all human beings, we have the same needs and feelings. Boundaries drawn up by others don't separate us," Shumaev said.