Apparently, the Russian consul wasn't too happy to have his special reserved free parking space in front of his apartment building painted and voiced his displeasure loudly and in no uncertain terms to both men, taking their pictures and calling the authorities. The Finns, always sensible, did not arrest anyone and will leave the parking spot painted in the Ukrainian colors. The Russian diplomat is free to continue using his parking space, as is.
Source: Business Insider
Two men in a Finnish city "annexed" a Russian diplomat's parking spot for Ukraine by painting it over with the country's flag on Wednesday.
Acting on what they called a "two-man referendum," Jarno Virtala and Markus Mattsson decided to paint over the spot, in the city of Turku, with a broad blue and yellow stripe.
The move was a swipe at the votes Russia called in occupied parts of Ukraine to justify its claim that they are now Russian territory. The votes were dismissed as a shame by Ukraine and its allies.
The spot sits outside of the official residence of the Russian diplomat Pyotr Plihin, and is specially reserved by the city for diplomatic use, according to national broadcaster Yle.
On Thursday, city officials announced they would not be removing the paint, Yle reported.
Mattsson wrote on Facebook, "We held a two-man referendum on annexing the parking spot to Ukraine. One hundred percent of the voters agreed and no disagreeing proposals were expressed, so we decided to celebrate the results by painting a flag of Ukraine on the spot."
