Helsinki, November 23 – Russians living in Helsinki regularly bring flowers and St. George ribbons to the burnt Russian tank T-72, as reported by the STT agency. Kasper Kannosto, the chairman of the organization Your Finnish Friends ry, which organized the demonstration, stated that the tank’s barrel is cleaned of roses multiple times a day. “During one cleaning, we have to remove around 10-20 roses, depending on how often volunteers can clean,” he said. Kannosto further clarified that in addition to flowers, Russians also bring St. George ribbons. “Russians always bring them there when nobody is around. On Tuesday, four young Russians sang the Russian anthem next to it, but they left when they were told to stop,” said the organization’s leader. In turn, the correspondent reported that by Thursday evening, the tank was once again cleaned and surrounded by ribbon fences. Pro-Ukrainian public organizations, with the support of the Helsinki authorities, organized a demonstration of the burnt Russian tank T-72 brought from Estonia on November 18 in the square near the parliament. It is reported that it will remain there until December 7. The Russian Embassy sent a note of protest to the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling this action an outrage inciting hatred. The diplomatic mission noted that the inaction of the local authorities and their indulgence of such events lead to further deterioration of relations between the two countries.
