Between 23 March and 18 April, some clashes also occurred in the remote eastern Lapland. The Karelian nationalist Iivo Ahava was fighting against the Whites who launched the Viena expedition in order to annex the Russian White Karelia into the newly independent Finland. Ahava formed a Red Guard unit in the Russian town of Kandalaksha of the Reds who had fled from Lapland. Two other Finnish Red Guards were formed in Knyazhaya Guba and Kem. In the mid-March, these units had up to 2,500 men. Ahava managed to stop the Whites and he was also eager to attack their rear in the northern Finland. However, the Red leaders were not interested in supporting him as they considered that the war would be determined in the populated areas of south.