Invasion of Finnish lawmakers' homes on the rise... Suspicion of Russian involvement raised

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Yu-ri = Recently, there has been a series of home invasions targeting sitting members of the National Assembly in Finland, and suspicions have been raised that 'dirty techniques' such as leaving 'suspicious feces' in the toilet were also used.

According to the British daily Telegraph on the 6th (local time), as many as 20 members of the Finnish National Assembly reported that their homes appeared to have been invaded in the past week alone.

In particular, the Telegraph reported that one of these lawmakers discovered 'suspicious feces' left in the toilet at his home.

The police have begun an investigation into this break-in incident.

First of all, suspicions are spreading in Finnish politics that Russia may be behind these incidents.

A senior member of Finland's ruling party pointed out that this incident was a Russian plot to threaten Finnish lawmakers.

He claimed, “This is a tactic by Russian intelligence agencies to show politicians that they are being monitored,” adding, “This is intended to cause confusion and concern.”

In fact, the Telegraph reported that it is a long-standing Russian operation to incite fear by having spies break into the homes of politicians or diplomats of the other country and deliberately leave traces behind them.

In some countries, Russian spies and agents urinate in the bathrooms of diplomats and journalists and then leave them behind.

In 2023, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that a high-ranking U.S. official visiting Russia discovered human feces in his suitcase, which was attributed to Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents.

Sarah Rainsford, a former BBC Russia correspondent, made a similar statement in her memoir 'Goodbye to Russia' published in 2024.

It is said that spies broke into his apartment at the time and left a sign that they had been there by “leaving a large toilet in each bathroom and not flushing it.”

This attempt by Russia is one of the Cold War-era techniques aimed at the opposition to break their spirit by amplifying their anxiety.

However, the Telegraph reported that such 'dirty work' appears to have surfaced recently in Finland.

Finland is the easternmost member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and shares a 1,340km border with Russia, raising security threats between the two countries.

In particular, Finland is increasing its confrontation with Russia by joining NATO in 2023 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and abolishing the principle of non-military alliance.

Regarding the invasion of a politician's home, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said, "The attack on members of the National Assembly is an attack aimed at democracy," and added, "This should not be tolerated in any form, and we will stand against it together with all members of the National Assembly."