Editorial The Russian leadership wants to control the past, present and future – and that also affects Finland

The abolition of the human rights organization Memorial would be a serious blow to Russian civil society.

In Russia there are two major ongoing legal proceedings.

Opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s former head of the local office, Lilija Tšanyševa, is awaiting trial in Ufa. He is accused of leading an extremist movement. This is a retroactive operation, as the Navalnyin organizations had ceased to exist even before the court had declared them extremist.

In Moscow, for their part, the authorities are working to close down Memorial, Russia’s best-known human rights organization. Among other things, the organization investigates the fate of the victims of Soviet repression. Closing the memorial would be a serious blow to Russian civil society.

The lawsuits reveal that Russia, which is becoming more and more authoritarian, is no longer even trying to pretend to be a state governed by the rule of law. At the same time, they show that the Russian leadership is trying to tighten its grip not only on the present but also on the future and the past.

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Recently, attention has been focused on Russia’s foreign policy, but it is good to remember that the country’s internal development is also reflected outside Russia. Finland is not spared the effects either.

Finland has sought to avoid politicizing historical issues with Russia and has emphasized that they are a matter for historians. For example, co-operation between the Finnish and Russian archives has worked on many issues.

However, the Russian leadership is acting differently, especially in everything related to World War II. The war and the victory it has won have always been important to the Russians, but under President Vladimir Putin, those in power have made war an even more central part of their national identity, so it has also become a central part of historical politics. Official Russia is closely monitoring that war and victory are talked about as the country’s leadership wants.

Finland noticed this last year, when the Committee of Inquiry of the Russian Federation announced that it had opened a genocide investigation into Finland’s actions in East Karelia during the Continuation War. The announcement was clearly a policy.

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The Winter War in Russia is again presented to the Soviet Union in a better light, ie as justified and necessary. Many textbooks now explain the Mainila shots and their shooter in a deliberately vague way (HS 13.10.).

The repression of the Soviet era is also a sensitive issue. Yuri Dmitrijev, the local director of the Memorial, who found the mass grave of the victims of Stalin’s persecution in Sandarmoh, was imprisoned in Karelia. He received a pedophilia conviction, which is widely regarded as clearly political. The Karelian authorities maintain the theory that there would also be prisoners of war executed by Finns in Sandarmoh. There is no evidence, but it does not bother the Russian authorities.

The process of closing Memorial is the same continuation as the actions of the authorities around Sandarmoh. The Russian leadership does not deny the Soviet repression, but wants to control what and how it is talked about.

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Finland should continue to be prepared for surprises as Russia refines its historical policy.

Russian Becoming more authoritarian both increases such surprises and makes it more difficult for Finland to react to them, whether it is history or modernity.

In the past, when Russia incited child disputes, Finland received its own message through Russia’s independent media. Now the authorities have pushed the last remaining independent media very cramped. Thus, responding to Russian propaganda is becoming increasingly difficult.

The editorials are HS’s statements on a topical issue. The writings are prepared by HS’s editorial staff and reflect the magazine principle.

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