Feces found in Finnish lawmaker's toilet amid mysterious break

Russian intelligence agents are suspected of breaking into the homes of Finnish lawmakers and leaving feces in their toilets as a form of psychological intimidation, The Telegraph reported on Oct. 5.

The allegations emerged after approximately 20 Finnish members of parliament reported suspicious incidents at their homes, including one case in which a lawmaker discovered feces left in an unflushed toilet.

Ben Zyskowicz, a senior lawmaker from the center-right National Coalition Party, believes the incidents could be part of a Russian intelligence operation intended to intimidate Finnish politicians.

"It's a way for the Russian intelligence service to show that people are being monitored, a way to create confusion or concerns," Zyskowicz said.

Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho confirmed that authorities were investigating a significant number of suspected intrusions.

He said politicians had discovered signs suggesting someone had entered their homes, although there was no evidence of forced entry, theft or property damage.

The suspected incidents occurred over approximately a year, Halla-aho said.

Finnish authorities have not established who was responsible or what motivated the incidents. Russian involvement remains a suspicion rather than a confirmed finding.

Russian intelligence agencies have previously been accused of using similar intimidation tactics.

The U.S. State Department has described such operations as " intrusions," in which agents move personal belongings, leave windows open or trigger alarms to demoralize and intimidate their targets.

Russian operatives have also been accused of leaving urine or other deliberate signs of their presence in the homes of foreign diplomats and journalists.

Former BBC Russia correspondent Sarah Rainsford recalled in her memoir Goodbye to Russia that suspected intelligence agents entered her apartment and left unflushed feces in the toilets.

The Guardian journalist Luke Harding also reported repeated intrusions into his Moscow apartment by suspected officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

The methods have roots in Cold War-era intelligence practices.

Harding wrote that the Soviet KGB employed a technique known as "operational psychology" to undermine targets psychologically.

East Germany's Stasi used similar methods against dissidents, secretly changing objects or arrangements inside their homes to make them question their own perceptions.

In another incident reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2023, an FSB officer allegedly defecated inside the suitcase of a senior U.S. official visiting Russia.

Finland has heightened its vigilance against possible foreign interference amid tensions with Moscow following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Finland's accession to NATO in 2023.

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