Finland is
called a promised country for associations because their establishment
threshold is low, and associations have a long history in our country. Thus,
the associations also operate as a channel of influence and recruitment channel
for state organizations, which is also known in Russia.
Russia
seeks to influence Finns in numerous ways, one such route being registered
associations and groups founded by civic activists. I will briefly review the
RuFi ry, i.e., Suomalais-venäläinen RuFi ry (the Finnish-Russian RuFi ry) and
its activities in recent years. (Note: ry = rekisteröity yhdistys, registered
association).
RuFi ry
rose to the headlines for the first time in the spring of 2017 when organizing
the first “Immortal Regiment-March” in Finland. (1) More than a hundred Finns
and Russians living in Finland took part in the march. The photographs also
showed the presence of individual activists from the Suomi Ensin movement,
which belongs to the right wing. Marco de Wit, the founder and those
time leader of the Suomi Ensin movement, visited the occupied Eastern Ukraine
in July 2016 with a Finnish propaganda group.
Prior to
this spring’s “car parade” RuFi organized a total of three immortal
regiment marches, in 2017 and 2018, and in 2019. During the coronavirus
pandemic, RuFi did not organize an immortal regiment march, anyway, between the
beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021, the organization lived a quiet life
until in December 2021, the group became again active on social media. After
Russia attacked Ukraine on several fronts on February 24, 2022, RuFi’s activity
on social media increased. So, the car parade held on May 8 was a natural
continuation of this activation. According to a Facebook article published by
the organizers of the “car parade,” the procession supports Russia “in its
difficult struggle against Nazism and fascism and Russophobia”. (2) In practice,
the car parade was a demonstration of support for Russian imperialism and the
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There is a
very wide right of demonstration in Finland, due to which it was not possible
for the authorities to ban the car parade in advance, because the organizer was
an association that is not banned or whose activities have not been restricted
in any way. Demonstration in Finland does not require a permit, it is enough
for the organizer to report the protest to the police.
 |
| Photo from the Immortal Regiment march (car parade) of Helsinki from May 2022, photographer unknown. |
RuFi’s
previous actions
As I wrote,
RuFi ry has organized the March of the Immortal Regiment three times, in 2017
and 2018 and 2019. More than a hundred Russians living in Finland and their
supporters took part in the first march of the immortal regiment, and
the third march on May 9, 2019, was attended by more than 150 Russians living
in Finland as well as their supporters. Pirkko Turpeinen-Saari, a
well-known SKDL (Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, English Finnish
People's Democratic League) politician and former Member of Parliament,
also took part in the third march. Turpeinen-Saari has also become known as a
contender for the massacre of Srebrenica by the Serbs and an inventor of
various conspiracy theories. (3) In her view, Srebrenica is a United States
propaganda operation. Daria Skippari-Smirnov, the then chairman of the
association, was responsible for organizing the third march, as well as
previous marches. According to Skippari-Smirnov, the chairman of RuFi ry is
currently a man named Heorhi Mirashnichenka, who according to the
register of associations is the vice-chairman. (4)
 |
| The Immortal Regiment march in may 2019, Skippari-Smirnov in a brown coat and garrison cap in her head.* |
In addition
to the marches of the immortal regiment, RuFi and its prominent actors, such as
Daria Skippari-Smirnov and Marina Muhonen, have also participated in
other events in support of Russia and its imperialist policies. Such as the
opening ceremony of the “Representation” of the Donetsk “People’s Republic”
established in Helsinki together with the members of Suomi-Novorossija-Seura
(Eng. Finland-Novorossiya Society) from the end of 2017. Prior to that,
there was the “Embassy of Novorossiya” in Finland, which was replaced by that
embassy.
However,
readers should be aware that this “representation”, like its predecessor, does
not have the status of an official embassy. Finland has never recognized the
“people's republics” of Donetsk or “people's republics” Luhansk, nor has it
given official status to their “embassies”, even though the people behind the
“embassies” claim so. So, the nature of the “embassy” of Novorossiya in Finland
as well as the “representation” of the “People’s Republic” of Donetsk has been
clearly propagandistic and disinformative. The out-of-date website continues to
share disinformation and direct unfair allegations against our authorities. (5)
 |
Declaration
of the Friends of the Donetsk “People’s Republic”, Daria Skippari-Smirnov and
Marina Muhonen from RuFi also as signatories. |
 |
| Johan Bäckman and Daria Skippari-Smirnov (RuFi ry) in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, March 2018. |
During the so-called
presidential elections in Russia in March 2018, the Finnish delegation traveled
to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. In addition to Johan Bäckman, the
travel group also included Daria Skippari-Smirnov and a few other Finns. The
trip can be described as propagandistic in content, marked by the fact that, at
the same time, Russia was holding illegal presidential elections on the
occupied Crimean Peninsula. Finns, Johan Bäckman participated in these
so-called elections as an “election observer”, a few other members of the Finnish
group visited “polling stations” at the time. (6) In addition to Daria
Skippari-Smirnov, Chairman of the RuFi, at least Marjaliisa Siira, an
active member of the Rauhanpuolustajat, reported on her visits to the “polling
stations”. At the same time, Siira spread a lot of disinformation and
propaganda.
In addition
to the above, Eero Hult, who were candidates for the Finnish municipal
elections, Svetlana Mustonen and Ludmila Odintsova took part in
public appearances during the visit. The delegation’s most prominent proposals
included the opening of a direct flight connection between Helsinki and
Simferopol and the proposal to establish a Finnish-Russian business and
cultural centre on the occupied Peninsula. These proposals, like the others,
are mainly part of theatre and propaganda, so there is no need to give them
more space in this context.
On 19 March
2019, Ukraine imposed sanctions on private individuals pursuant to a decision
of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, at which time
sanctions were also imposed on Daria Skippari-Smirnov, chairman of the RuFi ry.
One reason was her actions on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. At that
time, in addition to Skippari-Smirnov, sanctions were imposed on Johan Bäckman,
Janus Putkonen, Jarmo Ekman and Jon Hellevig (deceased 26
May 2020, Moscow), as well as Kai Paananen and Oleg Usachov, a
Russian living in Finland. (7)
Prior to
the coronavirus pandemic, RuFi’s representatives prominently participated in
various events held in Finland, which were united by the dissemination of
Russian disinformation and its attempts to influence abroad. A particularly
prominent speaker on RuFi was chairman Daria Skippari-Smirnov, who, in addition
to her interviews with the Russian media, gave a presentation at the Hybrid
Wars and Finland discussion event in Helsinki in March 2019. The discussion
was organized and moderated by Johan Bäckman. At the same time, the event was
the launch of the book “Hybrid Wars” wrote by Russian professor and
political scientist Igor Panarin. Since that work, Panarin has published
at least one more book via Johan Bäckman Publications’. Given the
current situation, we can say that Panarin does not have at least the gifts of
a fortune teller.
At that
discussion, Skippari-Smirnov's presentation was about the (human) rights of the
Russians and the war on information – the topic is interesting in that the (human)
rights of the Russians are being trampled on today, if anywhere, in Russia.
This presentation, as well as the event, must be seen in its context, it was
nothing more than the dissemination of disinformation combined with an attempt
to destabilize our civil society, as is clear from the performers and topics. Many
of the performers participate in various groups disseminating conspiracy
theories, such as Jarmo Ekman, or in counter-media and social media projects
that try to break social peace, such as Juha Korhonen, the topic of his
presentation was “lies in the mainstream media and blackmailing the free
media”. Korhonen sees traditional media as false, which tarnishes
counter-media.
RuFi has
strongly supported the Russian war in Ukraine even before the large-scale
offensive that began on February 24, 2022. In addition to the previously signed
declaration of friends of the Donetsk “People’s Republic”, this is reflected in
the dissemination of propaganda and disinformation, as well as in participation
in events that support the goals of the Russian regime. As an association, RuFi
had time to be active on social media for years, as it also previously had a
website (rufi.fi) whose domain has now been taken over by an outsider
and which conveys its greetings to the Russians through the web pages. The
Russian embassy has also taken note of the association’s activism in the past,
although otherwise the embassy – in public – kept a certain distance from the
association’s activities. The car parade in May this year was at least morally
supported by the Russian embassy. (8)
 |
| Certificate of Merit for Daria Skippari-Smirnov, signed by Nikolai Zemtsov, Member of Parliament, Russia. |
I consider
it very probable that the activation of RuFi is due, at least in part, to the
activities and messages conveyed by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which
have also been passed on by the Russian Embassy in Helsinki. In the example
(picture below), the Russian Embassy in Finland asks you to report
conspiracies, discrimination and hatred against Russians to your tweet email
address. The same message has been passed on by the Russian Foreign Ministry –
their communication also speaks directly of “Russophobia”. A fashion
term that the Russian administration deliberately and intentionally misuses to
suppress objective and appropriate criticism of the regime. A term used to
stigmatize critics of the Russian regime.
In addition
to the visible influence, RuFi activists participate in the WhatsApp group of Russians
in Finland, which was hotly debated before the May car ride. Screenshots of the
group’s discussions show that the Russian-speaking group is spreading Kremlin
hate propaganda against Ukrainians and inciting violence. A group of about 80
people was formed in mid-April and has been named the Autokulkue. (9)
One of the most active members of the WhatsApp group is Daria Skippari-Smirnov,
former chairman of RuFi.
The
discussion in the group follows the same lines as Russian state propaganda. In
the discussion of the WhatsApp group, Ukrainians are also being demonized and
de-humanized. The group is even proposing to bring shovels (in the car ride) so
that the Ukrainians can be buried. Even such writing causes nothing but
laughter in the group. (10)
This post
is largely based on a blog “RuFi ry – Venäjän pienimuotoista vaikuttamista Suomessa”, I wrote in Finnish earlier in May.
Marko
Sources:
2. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12429485
3. https://www.turpeinen-saari.net/blogi/2015/07/10/424
4. https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000008779634.html
6. https://www.fakeobservers.org/biased-observation-database/details/baeckman-johan.html
8. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12429485
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti
Toistaiseksi ei kommentointia.
Huomaa: vain tämän blogin jäsen voi lisätä kommentin.