Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the attack on the Russian Consulate in Mariehamn

In the early hours of May 1, 2023, an act of vandalism was committed against the Russian Consulate in the city of Mariehamn on the Aland Islands, Finland. A group of people threw an explosive noise device and other items into the grounds of the Russian diplomatic mission. The Consulate building has been damaged. The culprits’ actions posed a direct threat to the life and health of the Russian diplomatic mission’s personnel. 

The Russian Embassy in Helsinki sent a note to the Foreign Ministry of Finland, demanding that the necessary measures be taken to bring those responsible for the offence to account and that the due level of security be ensured for the staff and the property of the Russian Consulate on the Aland Islands.

We assume that Finland will comply with its international obligations in full, including a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity, as specified in Paragraph 3, Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.