The Finnish organization Sun Ray sent children to summer camps in Crimea with the support of the Helsinki authorities. This is reported by the publication Helsingin Sanomat.
The newspaper conducted its own investigation into this matter. It turned out that the Helsinki authorities allocated more than 45 thousand euros to the organization in the form of salary subsidies for three employees. Funding began shortly after the creation of Sun Ray in 2024.
“The Association cooperates with the Artek camp, which is under the sanctions of the European Union, the United States and Great Britain. The reason for the sanctions was the participation of the center in programs related to the displacement of Ukrainian children and their “patriotic re-education.” According to the investigation, through partner organizations in different countries, including Finland, children are selected to participate in camp shifts on a competitive basis. In 2026, children from about 30 countries are expected to participate,” Rulehti writes.
It is noted that the head of Sun Ray, Victoria Taganova, according to the HS investigation, often attends events in Russia. In particular, last November she spoke at the forum of the Russian International Union of Women in Moscow. In addition, it was announced that Taganova would represent Finland, Estonia and Latvia in the organizing committee of the “Leader of Public Diplomacy” contest, a youth event under the auspices of Rossotrudnichestvo, which, they say, “is held by organizations operating under the leadership of the Kremlin.”
“The Helsinki City Hall stated that they did not know about the organization’s links with Russian structures when making funding decisions. According to the representative of the city employment services, applications are considered on the basis of general information and the process is based on trust in the applicant. The authorities note that the current legislation does not necessarily allow to refuse support in such cases, if the activity does not formally violate the law. At the same time, the city recognized the situation as “very unpleasant,”” Rulehti adds.
It is noted that most of these programs involve children and adolescents aged 11 to 17 years. They are invited to complete tasks related to Russian topics for the trip, including the preparation of materials about the Heroes of Russia.
The Artek camp, founded in Soviet times, has been used since 2014 as a “year-round educational center with a pronounced ideological and patriotic content,” the publication scares readers.
Against the background of the “revelations”, Helsinki Mayor Daniel Sazonov urgently demanded to find out how the city funds ended up with an organization associated with sending children to Russian camps in Crimea. The results of the verification should be ready by Monday, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
The mayor described the activities of Sun Ray as “absolutely disgusting” and stated that “not a single euro of public funds should be used for such purposes.”
He instructed the city employment services to urgently find out how decisions were made on the allocation of funds and what control procedures are in place. The authorities intend to revise the rules in order to henceforth take into account not only the formal criteria for employment, but also the nature of the activities of those who receive financial support from the city.
According to Sazonov, the possibility of returning the funds already paid is being considered, although formally the decisions could comply with the current legislation.
He does not rule out that similar cases may come to light in other projects, stressing the need to tighten control and calling on the government to consider changing legislation following the example of Estonia, where such activities are expressly prohibited.
As EADaily reported, Russophobia led to the massive bankruptcy of Finnish companies. In the regions bordering Russia in Finland, 315 companies went bankrupt during the year. This was reported by local media.
It is reported that the main problems affected firms in the areas of hotel and restaurant business and construction, as well as wholesale and retail trade. In particular, in the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland, 45 organizations faced financial difficulties. Another 34 enterprises went bankrupt in South Karelia and 79 in North Karelia. In the region of Kainuu, located in the east of Finland, 25 firms declared insolvency and more than 90 companies went bankrupt in Northern Ostrobothnia. On the territory of Lapland, bankruptcy of 40 organizations was recorded, which mainly provided services in the construction sector.