# Vainikkala

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{{Short description|Village of Lappeenranta, Finland}}
thumb|Vainikkala railway station (2007)
'''Vainikkala''' is a small [village](/source/village) of approximately 400 inhabitants in [South Karelia](/source/South_Karelia), [Eastern Finland](/source/Eastern_Finland). It is part of the [Lappeenranta](/source/Lappeenranta) municipality and is located about {{convert|29|km}} south of the [city centre](/source/city_centre). 

Vainikkala is right on the Finnish [border](/source/border) with [Russia](/source/Russia) and the village's train station serves as an important [checkpoint](/source/Border_checkpoint) for Finnish [border controls](/source/Border_control) and [customs](/source/customs). The train station is the junction for all [passenger train](/source/passenger_train)s between Finland and Russia, though there are no ticket sales done in Vainikkala; the nearest ticket office is in Lappeenranta and the nearest ticket office for passage to or from Russia is in [Lahti](/source/Lahti).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vr.fi/cs/vr/fi/vainikkala_fi|title=Vainikkala Rautatieasema|publisher=[VR](/source/VR_Group)|language=fi|trans-title=Vainikkala Rail Station|access-date=2020-01-06|archive-date=2018-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507154052/https://www.vr.fi/cs/vr/fi/vainikkala_fi|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [Allegro](/source/Allegro_(train)) high-speed train service between [Helsinki](/source/Helsinki) and [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg) stopped in Vainikkala several times per day until its discontinuation in 2022. In 2019, more than 656,000 people crossed the border at Vainikkala.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.raja.fi/current_issues/statistics|title=Rajanylitysliikenne Suomen ja Venäjän maarajalla|date=2020|website=raja.fi|publisher=[Finnish Border Guard](/source/Finnish_Border_Guard)|language=fi|trans-title=Border traffic between Finland and Russia 2019|access-date=2020-01-06|archive-date=2019-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616130711/https://www.raja.fi/current_issues/statistics|url-status=dead}}</ref> The freight terminal makes Vainikkala an important node in trade between the [EU](/source/European_Union) and Russia.

The largest employers in Vainikkala are [VR](/source/VR_Group), the Finnish state passenger railway company, and [Finnish Customs](/source/Finnish_Customs).{{cn|date=January 2025}}

[Lee Harvey Oswald](/source/Lee_Harvey_Oswald) entered the [USSR](/source/Soviet_Union) through Vainikkala and his passport displays a stamp of the village's name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/oswald/?|title=Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?|date=2013-11-19|publisher=[Frontline](/source/Frontline_(American_TV_program)) on [PBS](/source/PBS)|language=en-US|type=Television program|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref>

{{coord|60|51|58|N|28|17|59|E|region:FI-IS_type:landmark|display=title}}

==References==
Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [:de:Vainikkala](/source/%3Ade%3AVainikkala); see its history for attribution.{{Reflist}}

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Category:Lappeenranta
Category:Villages in South Karelia
Category:Finland–Russia border crossings

{{EasternFinland-geo-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vainikkala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vainikkala) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vainikkala?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.