Russian agents have been accused of breaking into the homes of Finnish politicians, moving around their belongings and, in one reported case, leaving faeces in a bathroom.
At least 20 Finnish MPs have reported mysterious intrusions at their homes, prompting Jussi Halla-aho, the speaker of parliament, to launch an investigation into what he called a “significant” series of break-ins.
Ben Zyskowicz, a senior MP from Finland’s ruling centre-Right National Coalition Party, said he believed the incidents were intended to intimidate politicians and suggest they were being watched by Moscow.
“It’s a way for the Russian intelligence service to show that people are being monitored, a way to create confusion or concerns,” Mr Zyskowicz said.
Finnish MPs face suspected Russian intimidation campaign
The alleged intrusions come as Finland prepares for parliamentary elections in six months and remains on alert for possible Kremlin sabotage. The country joined Nato in 2023, extending the alliance’s border with Russia by nearly 1,000 miles.
Similar intimidation methods have previously been attributed to Russian agents. The US State Department has documented cases in which intruders entered homes, disturbed possessions and opened windows to unsettle their targets.
Sarah Rainsford, a former BBC Russia correspondent, wrote in her memoir that agents entered her home and left “a large unflushed deposit in each toilet”. Guardian reporter Luke Harding has also said officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service repeatedly forced their way into his Moscow flat, on one occasion leaving a sex manual behind.
Russia is suspected of intensifying its hybrid warfare tactics since Finland joined Nato. Moscow has vehemently denied accusations that it is conducting a wider campaign of espionage, sabotage and disruption.
The reports from Finland emerged as Germany’s foreign intelligence chief warned that his country risked being drawn into conflict with Moscow as suspected hybrid attacks increased.
Martin Jaeger, head of Germany’s BND spy service, told lawmakers that Russia’s undeclared “shadow war” against Germany and its allies was escalating and had “taken on a new, more dangerous character”.
“Germany is at risk of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia,” he said at a hearing of parliament’s intelligence oversight committee in Berlin.
Mr Jaeger said there was currently “no indication” that Russia planned a major military attack on a Nato member, but warned that “low-level Russian military activities could occur, particularly in the Baltic states”.
He cited an attempted attack at Leipzig airport in August involving an explosives-laden drone, for which Russian agents are the prime suspects.
Sinan Selen, head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, said Russian operations had expanded beyond traditional espionage to include “sabotage and assassinations”. He said defence industry and military infrastructure were in the crosshairs, and that Moscow was “already accepting the risk of potential civilian casualties”.
