Vyborg massacre  The Vyborg massacre was the killing of approximately 360-420 Russians in the town of Vyborg during the Finnish Civil War in April–May 1918. The massacre took place during and after the Battle of Vyborg as the White Guards captured the town from the Red Guards. At least half of the victims were Russian soldiers and military personnel. The slain were mainly men and young boys: nine out of ten were men fit for military service. The White Guards were "cleansing" the city of Red Guards, however, only a small minority of the killed Russian townsfolk were affiliated with the Finnish labour movement. Vyborg was both the second largest town in Finland with 49,000 inhabitants and one of the most diverse. In 1910 Vyborg had minorities of Swedes (5,000) and Russians (3,200-4,000), as well as smaller ethnic groups of Germans, Jews and Islamic Tatars. Historian Teemu Keskisarja considers a spark that set off the killings was the news that a gang of drunk Red Guards had entered Viborg County Gaol during the Battle of Vyborg and murdered 30 White Guard prisoners. However some Finnish historians think the Whites' goal was not to destroy the town's entire Russian population because only men of military age and suspicious elements were targeted. The other ethnicities were only killed because they were simply assumed to be Russians. The massacre started on April 28 during the Battle of Vyborg, escalating on the next, final day of the battle. Westerlund notes descriptions by jaegers Nurmio and Grandell of difficulty of identifying the Reds, as they hid amongst the population. Street combat and sniper skirmishes colored the final day of the battle. The largest mass executions were committed at the Annenkrone fortification on the western side of town and in the yard of Vyborg Castle, but mainly the killings took place randomly in the streets and yards. Some managed to survive as the Finnish or Swedish residents were hiding them. Executions were committed by the Vaasa and Kajaani regiments, which were parts of the Eastern Army of the White Guards, led by the General Major Ernst Löfström. Vaasa Regiment was led by the Swedish military adventurer Martin Ekström, who later became a leader of the Swedish Nazi organization National Socialist Bloc. Both regiments were filled with men from other parts of Finland but who were not from the Vyborg area. The local White Guards did not directly take part in the killings.