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Moscow demands steps from Finland following flag desecration incident in Helsinki

The Russian diplomats said that "a diplomatic protest has been lodged with Finland saying that Moscow views the incident as an unprecedented and inadmissible act of desecration of a Russian state symbol"

Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Russia demands that Finland bring to justice people who burned the Russian flag in Helsinki on December 6 and take measures to prevent such extremist actions from happening again, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"A demand has been issued to the Finnish authorities to bring to justice those who committed the crime and take steps to prevent similar extremist incidents from happening again," the statement reads.

The Russian diplomats said that "a diplomatic protest has been lodged with Finland saying that Moscow views the incident as an unprecedented and inadmissible act of desecration of a [Russian] state symbol."

According to Russia’s MFA, on Tuesday, when Finland celebrated its Independence Day, the Russian flag was burned by a group of people during mass marches in Helsinki.

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