 The Finns refused.Soviet forces had occupied Gogland during the Winter War, and, under the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty, Finland was forced to cede the island to the Soviet Union.As Operation Barbarossa commenced, the Soviets placed a garrison on the island; however, as invading German forces on the mainland moved closer to Leningrad, the Soviet command ordered the evacuation of most of the islands in the Gulf of Finland, as well as their besieged base at Hanko on the Finnish coast.