An extraordinary number of staff have left the Russian embassy in Helsinki since Finland decided to expel Russian spies in June. Several embassy assistants have left the embassy complex in Helsinki's Ullanlinna neighbourhood and many of those who left Finland had shorter stays than usual working in the country.
This information is based on a report by STT, which compared information on Russian diplomats in Finland that has been made public at various times.
The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs maintains an online list of diplomats currently in the country. Between the end of June and the end of July, the ministry removed the names of nine Russians from the list, which corresponds to the number of Russian spies who were expelled in June.
However, not all of those who have left the country were expelled. For example, a commercial representative at the embassy has disappeared from the list. According to media reports, the individual was transferred to Kazakhstan more than a month before the expulsion decisions in Finland.
With the exception of the commercial representative, the group that left Finland is quite private and difficult to track online, even when searched using their Russian names.
Foreign ministry conceals list
Finland decided to expel the Russians on 6 June. The decision was taken by the Finnish government's foreign and security policy ministerial committee (TP-UTVA).
A brief press release said that Finland would expel nine intelligence officers from the Russian embassy. The reason given was that they had acted in violation of the Vienna Convention concerning diplomatic relations.
In other words, the political leadership decided to expel Russian spies who had been working undercover in Finland.
Prior to the expulsion decision, the Foreign Ministry had, on request, provided lists showing the dates of entry and departure of Russian diplomats who had been in the country at various times. However, on 21 June, the ministry was informed by email that the provision of the list could reveal secret information about the decision.
The ministry later submitted a decision justifying the withholding on the grounds of a possible risk to international relations.
At the same time as the Foreign Ministry has refused to provide the list, which it had previously deemed public, it has maintained an online list of Russian diplomats residing in Finland. STT printed the Foreign Ministry's list after it announced the withholding, but did not list exact numbers of Russian embassy staff that left the country.
A comparison of the diplomats mentioned online by the Foreign Ministry in the run-up to Midsummer and in late July shows that nine Russian names have been removed from the diplomatic list.
Short stays
A comparison of diplomatic records showed that many of the Russian embassy staff who left this summer had shorter stays in Finland than usual.
On average, Russian diplomats who left Finland between September 2021 and March 2023 had worked in Finland for just under four years, which would be the longest stay of any of the Russians who left this summer. The exact length of time in the country could be determined for eight of the Russians who left Finland this summer, and their average time spent working in Finland was just over a year.
The decision to announce the expulsion of diplomats on its own initiative was exceptional compared to previous cases in Finland. Estonia, on the other hand, has deviated from the traditional Finnish policy and the Estonian Internal Security Service (Kapo) has even published the names and pictures of expelled Russian diplomats in its yearly report.
15:54 29.07.2023 An earlier version of this article used the term "flees" in the headline, which may have mischaracterised the rest of the article. The word has now been changed to "departs".
