Finnish court upholds asylum denial for Russian anarchist, citing his ‘very minor’ activism

A Finnish court has upheld the rejection of an asylum application from Mikhail Lunkovsky, a 44-year-old anarchist from St. Petersburg, ruling that his political activity was too minor to put him at risk in Russia, independent outlets TV Rain and Mediazona reported on Tuesday.

The Administrative Court of Eastern Finland found that Lunkovsky’s activism “was of very minor significance” and that he “is not of particular interest to the Russian authorities.” The Finnish Immigration Service had confirmed his years of political activity, repeated detentions and experiences of police violence in Russia, but the court did not consider this sufficient grounds for protection.

“The applicant’s assumption that his social media posts have come to the attention of the authorities, and that he would be detained when crossing the Russian border, is based on his own speculation,” the court said in its ruling.

Lunkovsky now faces possible deportation to Russia. He plans to appeal the decision to Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court.

A longtime activist, Lunkovsky took part in numerous protests in Russia and was detained several times. In February 2022, he spoke out openly against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and left for Romania with his wife, a Ukrainian citizen, where he applied for asylum. Romanian authorities passed his application on to Finland because he had previously been issued a Finnish Schengen visa. In 2023, he was forcibly transferred to Finland, while his wife remained in Romania.

Lunkovsky says that early in the war he sent money from Russian bank cards to the Ukrainian charity Come Back Alive, and that he wrote anti-war comments in various Telegram chats. Since 2017–2018, he has moderated a chat run by journalist Arkady Babchenko, whom Russian authorities have accused of justifying terrorism.