 Crossing of the 1939 border did not sit well with all of the Finns and over 2,000 men initially refused to cross the old border.The Finnish 7th Division of the VII Corps launched its attack towards town of Sortavala from the east and managed to capture the village of Ruskeala on July 25 allowing Finns to present a unified front against Soviets defending Sortavala.Soviets had in turn reinforced their defending 168th Rifle Division in the area with the Soviet 198th Motorized Division and prepared to launch a counter attack towards Jänisjoki River however Finns managed to capture the plans of the Soviet counterattack.