While the Karelian forests allowed Finnish troops to move undetected for long distances, they gave the same benefits to Soviet partisans. The Finns recruited "tribal" units to suppress them and moved tens of thousands of ethnic Russian inhabitants into concentration camps. The movement exploded in the summer of 1942 when thousands of camp inmates starved to death. Finnish pursuers finally cornered the largest partisan unit, which included future General Secretary Yuri Andropov near Lake Seesjarvi in East Karelia.

The Finns reported the 1st Partisan Brigade "wiped out," though given the nature of partisan warfare such a claim can't be substantiated. what is clear is that partisan attacks did decrease after this action. While the partisans were accused of targeting civilians, much of Karelia was subjected to bitter ethnic strife and men and women of all groups took up arms periodically against their neighbors.