The Kexholm Direction Museum

On May 14, 2006, on the shore of Lake Sukhodolskoye (Finnish – Suvantojärvi) near the village of Petrovskoye, a memorial complex was opened at the Dacha Country Club in honor of the 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II. The museum’s history began a little earlier with an idea that a group of friends decided to implement.

On the initiative of the general director of Zagorodny Club LLC (now Fortuna Plus LLC) Natalya Valentinovna Dvojakovskaya, with the participation of researchers, a unique, military-historical complex in Russia dedicated to the events of the Soviet-Finnish war on the Karelian Isthmus in 1939–1944 was created. Initially it was a small exhibition but in 2006 it turned into a real museum.

Today the museum is known not only in the Priozersky district, but also throughout Russia and abroad. Both schoolchildren and adults come here for excursions and meetings with veterans, and thematic conversations are held here. Every year on May 9, veterans of the Great Patriotic War gather on the territory of the museum, for whom a festive concert is organized and a field kitchen is working. Numerous visitors to the museum come to lay flowers at the monument.

In 2017, the museum was visited by the President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Nikolaevich Dodon, and honorary residents of St. Petersburg.

In support of the patriotic spirit among young people, the Dacha Country Club’s management organizes free tours for students from various educational institutions.

Groups of tourists, work groups, and delegations, including foreign ones, as well as individual guests leave the museum with new knowledge about the events of the Soviet-Finnish war.

There are no analogues to the Kexholm Direction Museum today, as it is a unique museum of its kind that covers the history of the Soviet-Finnish War.

Today the museum complex includes 150 meters of restored and newly equipped trenches, dug-out positions, and rifle cells. There are anti-tank gouges and hedgehogs of Soviet and Finnish production, existing field kitchens and much more on the territory. Along the shore of the lake, trenches, dugouts, and an artillery position were restored. The position is reinforced by the AFL and several rifle shields. Artillery is represented by a 122-mm howitzer and a 76-mm field gun.

The museum has four rooms. There is a hall at the entrance that tells about the pre-war history of Finland. There are exhibits showing the Winter War and the battles that took place on Lake Suvantojärvi in the central hall. Two rooms are dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War. There is a panel with a map diagram of Lake Suvantojärvi and the fighting on the ceiling. The museum has many exhibits, from home-made aluminum mugs to the uniforms of fighters and rare documents. All exhibits are genuine. Materials are collected on the territory of the Priozersky district. Expositions today are replenished with new exhibits and finds of local residents.