Most of the world does not perceive as "defensive" NATO's meddling in Russia's "near abroad"
The "near abroad" is a Russo-centric term, used by people who think that Russia has a given right to control countries that aren't in Russia. Wake up, those days are gone.
, which includes Finland/the other 3 smaller Baltic states/Ukraine [roughly where the railway gauge is 5 feet], or elsewhere (Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc.).
None of those countries consider themselves to be in Russia's orbit. Kosovo, demographically, was majority Albanian throughout the entire period of socialist Yugoslavia and afterwards. Also, before WW2, the Baltic states were far more influenced by Germanic than Slavic culture.
Sadly, Helsinki will now be at risk of suffering the same fate as Mariupol, as Russia (and the wider world) will perceive Finland joining NATO as an act of aggression, despite Finland clearly having no intention of attacking Russia.
If they try that, they will get destroyed. The Finns have been preparing for this since the end of WW2, and I wouldn't underestimate just what the Finns are capable of doing. WW2 showed how capable they are, and their entire military is orientated around defending themselves against Russia. Do you really think the Finns aren't capable of reducing St Petersburg and Murmansk to rubble from within?
Russia doesn't need to invade to wreck Finnish cities; a barrage of missiles could achieve it.
With what missiles? Russia is running so short that they're having to use missiles launched from the Black Sea Fleet, which are intended for an entirely different purpose. There's simply no barrage available to them, and meanwhile the Finns are about to buy Israeli technology. What Russia has is also badly needed on other borders, particularly as the threat of the Chinese is always there.
You're massively overestimating the actual military capability of Russia. They're also having severe problems with producing new missiles, due to the sanctions.
The bear needs handling with care (rather than being poked), which is the policy that Finland has followed wisely from 1944 until now, but seems {foolishly, IMO) about to abandon.
The bear needs to go back where it belongs.
This was bound to happen one day - Finland has been slowly moving away from that policy it had foisted on it after that bloody conflict it had with the USSR ended - Putin merely sped up the process.
Finland, since around the 1970s, has been quietly integrating within NATO without officially declaring so. That's why it won't take long for them to join NATO, because they already work to NATO standards.
St. Petersburg would be more likely than Helsinki to fall first in another Russo-Finnish conflict
Agreed. The Finns are trained and ready, and they have a strong sense of national pride. Military service there is seen as honourable, and it's tough to get a good job without it.