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Two Finnish men painted the parking lot of the Russian consulate on Wednesday in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
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They called it the result of a “two referendum” on “annexing” Ukraine.
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On Thursday, the city announced it would not paint over the impromptu protests.
On Wednesday, two men in a Finnish city “annexed” a parking lot of Russian diplomats by painting them with Ukrainian flags.
Jarno Virtala and Markus Mattsson decided to paint that spot in the city of Turku with wide stripes of blue and yellow, based on what they called a “two-person referendum.”
The move was an attack on a vote Russia called to legitimize Russia’s claim that the occupied territories of Ukraine are now Russian territory. The vote was disgracefully dismissed by Ukraine and her allies.
This place is outside the official residence of Russian diplomat Pyotr Purikhin and is specially reserved for diplomatic purposes by the city. According to national broadcaster Yle.
On Thursday, city officials announced they would not remove the paint. Reported by Yale.
The idea first came from Virtala. He told his Insider that he appeared wearing his hi-vis jacket to look like a maintenance worker, but about half an hour later, Mattsson, who was biking to work, stopped and offered to help him. I made it
Mattson, whose partner is Ukrainian, wrote on social media: “Two referendums were held on whether to annex the parking lot to Ukraine.”
“Since 100% of voters voted in favor and no proposals to the contrary were expressed, we decided to celebrate the result by drawing the Ukrainian flag on the spot,” he added.
Mattson and Virtala, who didn’t know each other until that day, told insiders they were looking for a peaceful way to voice their support for Ukraine and their opposition to the referendum.
President Vladimir Putin used them to justify the alleged annexation. overwhelmingly condemned by the United Nations General Assembly on wednesday.
Virtala, a self-employed property manager, told insiders that the diplomat’s car was returned after the paint had dried.
“Then the consul came out of the building and started taking pictures of me, but he wasn’t very happy,” said Virtala. “I don’t think he liked the color at all.”
According to Yle, Plihin was already being snubbed by some of his neighbors.
Ari Sinkonen, who owns a nearby bike shop, told the outlet that he hoisted the Ukrainian flag where the consul could see it from his home.
“We don’t say hello to one or the other,” Shinkonen told the outlet. “He doesn’t say hello to anyone.
in the meantime Local Mayor Minna Aave tweeted Finland should work to close one of its three consulates in the country. The consulate did not respond to the insider’s request for comment.
Finland shares a large border with Russia and has maintained precarious neutrality between Russia and NATO for decades. But after Putin invaded Ukraine, Finland applied for NATO membership, In process of joining.
This is not the first time a Russian diplomatic outpost has been ravaged since the war began. On Tuesday, a German court ruled that destroyed Russian tanks could be placed outside the Berlin embassy. As reported by the insider.
Other Russian diplomats around the world have faced or been spotted with Ukrainian symbols. A street that houses the embassy renamed in honor of Ukraine.
Virtala and Mattsson stressed that they do not want to encourage more aggressive forms of protest or disturb people who live nearby. Both said they wanted to inspire people to support the Ukrainian cause.
“If a Ukrainian asks me, I’m happy to wash out the color,” Mattson told Insider.
But they said they received a flood of messages, which were mostly positive — and the last time Mattson biked past, an elderly couple was laughing and taking pictures, he said.
“The goal was to make it very clear that these Russian officials and other Russians do not strongly accept what this Russia is doing in Ukraine.” Because it became
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