Finland, being a satellite state of the Third Reich, is responsible for unleashing the Second World War together with Germany. Such crimes have no statute of limitations, said Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.
"Finland, as a satellite of Hitler, who attacked the USSR, bears exactly the same responsibility for unleashing the war, all the horrors and sufferings of our population, as fascist Germany. Moreover, criminal liability for genocide and war crimes does not imply the application of the statute of limitations principle, and the time of their commission does not affect their qualification as crimes against humanity," he wrote in the column "The New Finnish Doctrine: Stupidity, lies, ingratitude" published by TASS.
Medvedev recalled that, according to the UN General Assembly Resolution 96 (I) of 1946, the world community recognized genocide as a crime even before the adoption of the In 1948, the UN adopted the profile Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
"For example, the genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes in 1904-1908 by the colonial troops of Kaiser Germany under the leadership of General Lothar von Trot in Namibia was classified as acts of genocide only in the 1985 special report of the Human Rights Commission at the UN Economic and Social Council, and Berlin recognized as such only in 2004," he said.
Medvedev specified that, according to the work "Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the XXI Century" by John Sarkin, lawsuits can be filed with a national or international court, which can apply the principles of international law and/or public and private law.
"So, in general, international law is on the side of the victims. The fact of crimes of this kind is much more important than how much time has passed since they were committed. The same is the case with Helsinki," he said.
In this regard, the Deputy chairman of the Security Council drew attention to the fact that the swastika disappeared from the flag of the Finnish Air Force as a branch of the armed forces only in 2020.
"At the same time, the Finns reluctantly deigned to remove the fascist symbol from the flags of their units as part of the banner reform only in August 2025, citing external pressure," Medvedev stated.
He stressed that the ideological heirs of the Finnish fascist invaders themselves constantly give grounds for making claims against them.
"Because after joining the NATO bloc, which calls Russia its enemy, modern Finland directly and rudely tramples on the historical and legal basis on which it exists," Medvedev said.
He added that this, in particular, concerns the provisions of the post-war Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 between Moscow and Helsinki, the unilateral refusal to comply with the defense articles of which in 1990 the Russian Federation did not give official consent, as well as the bilateral Treaty on the foundations of relations of 1992.