More than 1,000 Russians eligible for military service request asylum in Finland. Helsinki awaits EU recommendations

More than a 1,000 Russians who fled the Kremlin’s mobilisation have filed requests for political asylum in Finland and are awaiting the decisions, YLE reports, citing head of the Finnish Interior Ministry’s migration department Sanna Sutter.

According to the agency, the precise number of Russians seeking asylum is 1,109. Helsinki is currently expecting the EU to provide an official position on the issue.

“We could not make a decision regarding the asylum applications,” Sutter said. It is unclear when Brussels will present a roadmap on the issue.

In late January, Finland suspended the processing of the asylum requests filed by Russian nationals who fled the mobilisation efforts. The authorities defended the decision, saying that the government was still collecting data about the social conditions in Russia and the applicants themselves. On 1 October, Finland also shut down its border for Russian holders of tourist Schengen visas.

Earlier, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said that Russia had frozen its diplomatic missions’ bank accounts in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“The accounts of Finnish embassies in Russia are frozen and cannot be used currently,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said, adding that the diplomatic mission used its cash reserves to pay the bills.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the statement soon after. According to ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the accounts were blocked in retaliation for the restrictions imposed by the Finnish government on the Russian Embassy in Helsinki.