Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. Photo: Nicolas Tucat / AFP / Lehtikuva
- Next Article Yle: Emails raise concerns over internship given to president Stubb’s son
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo confirmed Tuesday that Finland has not received any official contact from either Ukraine or Russia regarding a former Wagner Group fighter detained by Finnish authorities in mid-June.
The Russian national, identified only by his first name, Yevgeny, was apprehended on 17 June near the town of Kitee in eastern Finland after illegally crossing the border from Russia and applying for asylum. He was detained on suspicion of an unauthorised border crossing.
Orpo said that he had been kept informed of the incident from the beginning.
“I was informed back in June that an illegal border crossing had taken place and that the person had been detained,” he said, adding that questioning by the Finnish Border Guard was still ongoing.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is also assessing whether additional criminal investigations should be launched based on the man’s background as a former member of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company involved in operations in Ukraine and elsewhere.
According to Yle, the Ukrainian Embassy in Helsinki has acknowledged that it is aware of the case. A spokesperson said on Saturday that it was too early to determine whether Ukraine might request extradition.
So far, no formal communication on the matter has been received from either Kyiv or Moscow.
Orpo said the episode demonstrated the effectiveness of Finland’s eastern border surveillance.
“This shows that our border security remains consistently strong,” he stated.
The Finnish authorities have not released further details on the asylum application or the detainee’s history in the Wagner Group. The case remains under review.
HT
- Next Article Yle: Emails raise concerns over internship given to president Stubb’s son
Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
