Russians abandoned their cars at the airport. "Go home"

Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Land Rovers, and Lexus - these are some of the luxury cars of Russians that have been parked at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport in Finland for many months. Some of them have been decorated with expressive inscriptions.

Exactly 80 exclusive cars with Russian registration numbers are still standing at the airport in Helsinki. As Finland began to restrict entry through the eastern border, the number of Russian cars systematically decreased. Just a year ago, shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine, approximately 1,400 thousand cars were parked. The value of each of them ranges between 45 to 70 thousand dollars.

As reported by the Finnish broadcaster Yle, some of the cars have been standing for so long that various slogans could easily be written on the dusty windows and bodywork. "Go home" and "Glory to Ukraine" - these are some of the inscriptions that appear on the vehicles left by the Russians. All of them show the authors' attitude to the war in Ukraine.

According to a decision by Finnish authorities, which came into effect on September 16th, those who have already entered Finland with cars on Russian license plates have time until mid-March 2024 to export the vehicles, provided they do not meet special conditions for staying in the country. After this deadline, unclaimed cars may become property of the city of Vantaa, where the airport is located.

However, some Russians have no intention of losing their vehicles. "I will come back for my car, but I do not know when" - said Valerij, quoted by Yle. As he admitted, he is traveling around Europe and is currently applying for EU citizenship. According to him, the entry ban, which affects ordinary Russians, can be bypassed by buying a car with EU license plates.

A week's stay in the cheapest long-term parking zone costs close to 80 euros (approx. 85 dollars). On other levels in the hall, you have to pay even more than twice as much.