Later Finnish historians conducted further efforts to ascertain the number of Soviet casualties in the battle. The Finns captured over 5,000 rifles, and the North Finland Group replaced 1,200 old rifles with the newer Soviet models. Most recent Finnish studies indicate that the Soviets lost at least 7,000–9,000 men. The Finns quickly buried the Soviet dead as the weather warmed during the early spring to reduce the risk of epidemics. Mass graves were marked on maps and were mounted with a cross or a pole. Later, the maps disappeared. Around Easter, the Soviets made a request to gather the dead and take them back home. The Finns did not allow Red Army officials to cross the border but delivered 300 bodies from near the village of Raate to Soviet officials. After the Continuation War, the Soviet hierarchy lost interest in their deceased. The Red Army soon occupied the Raate Road and gathered wartime debris but left the bodies alone. The fate of the Soviet 44th Division remained unmentioned in Soviet historiography for decades. According to the Russian historian Yuri Kilin, the Stavka set up a research commission in January 1940 to investigate the number of casualties. The Commission reported 4,674 total casualties: 1,001 dead, 1,430 wounded and 2,243 missing. At the turn of the year, the strength of the division was 13,962 men and by the end of the battle it was at 9,288 men. According to the report, the division was understaffed, because two battalions of the 305th Rifle Regiment were deployed elsewhere. Kilin calculated that some troops returned after the report, so the number of the missing is lower. Later, research by the Ukrainian historian Oleg Bozhko yielded similar numbers as he used the same source. The Stavka report was published in January 1940, in the middle of the Winter War. The statistics of the report start from 1 January, and by this time the division had already suffered heavy losses for two weeks. The Stavka report did not mention casualties suffered on the Raate Road by other units, along the advancement of the 44th Division. Aftermath Thereafter, the area saw only a few minor skirmishes. Soviet executions The Soviet commander, Vinogradov, and two of his chief officers, Volkov and Pahomov, retreated in the middle of crucial battles. According to the Stavka report, this act had a fatal influence on morale. As they reached the Soviet lines four