Aunus expedition

Aunus expedition
	Part of Heimosodat
Date	April 21 – September 18, 1919
Location	Aunus
Result	Bolshevik victory
Belligerents
Finnish volunteers Olonets Government;	Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Colonel Aarne Sihvo; Lieutenant Colonel Ero Gadolin; Major Gunnar von Hertzen; Major Paavo Talvela; Captain Ragnar Nordström;	Leon Trotsky
Strength
Finland; 2,500–2,700; Aunus; 1,000	20,000
Casualties and losses
300–400 killed; 600–800 wounded	1,000 killed; 1,800 wounded

The Aunus expedition (Finnish: Aunuksen retkikunta; Swedish: Aunus-expeditionen) was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian Civil War. Aunus is the Finnish name for Olonets Karelia. This expedition was one of many Finnic "kinship wars" (heimosodat) fought against forces of Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the Russian Civil War.