Moscow demands action against vandal attack on its consulate in Finland

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Russia formally protested to Finland on Wednesday over a vandal attack on its consulate in the autonomous region of Aland Islands late Sunday, demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

“A group of people threw an explosive noise device, as well as other items, into the territory of the Russian foreign mission. The Consulate building sustained material damage. The actions of the intruders posed a direct threat to the life and health of the Russian mission staff,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry’s official website.

Zakharova said the Russian Embassy in Helsinki sent a diplomatic note to the Finnish Foreign Ministry in response to the incident, demanding that the country takes “the necessary measures to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure the proper level of security for the staff and property of the Russian Consulate in the Aland Islands.”

“We presume that the Finnish side will duly fulfill its international obligations … to take all appropriate measures to protect consular premises from any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbing the peace of the consular post or insulting its dignity,” she added.

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