Finland summons Russian envoy, pays tribute to Navalny

Finland on Monday summoned the Russian Ambassador to Helsinki following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny inside the prison on February 16.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) summoned Ambassador Pavel Kuznetsov and demanded complete and transparent investigation into the death of Navalny, said the ministry in a post in social media platform X.

“The Finnish MFA today (Monday) summoned the Russian Ambassador regarding the death of Alexey Navalny, to emphasize that Russia is responsible and to demand a full and transparent investigation. We continue to call for the release of all political prisoners in Russia,” the ministry wrote in the post.

Meanwhile, Finnish Ambassador to Moscow Antti Helanterä on Monday paid tributes to Navalny by laying flowers on the Solovetsky Stone in Moscow.

“Finland's Ambassador Antti Helanterä honored the memory of Alexei Navalny by laying flowers on the Solovetsky Stone, the monument for the victims of political repression,” the Ministry for Foreign Affairs wrote in another post in X.

The Solovetsky Stone was set up on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square in 1990.

The stone was brought from Solovetsky Island in the White Sea, near Finland’s far northeastern border, which was the site of the first Soviet prison camp.

Earlier, Finnish leaders expressed profound shock at the death of Alexei Navalny and held Russia responsible for the death inside the prison.