In the Russian town of Sortavala in the Republic of Karelia close to the Finnish border, fliers have been distributed to people's mailboxes urging the locals to organise a referendum on incorporating the town into Finland.
According to the fliers, Russia is unable to provide its citizens with decent living conditions, so the alternative would be to join with Finland instead.
The Karelia department of the Russian domestic security agency (FSB) has filed a lawsuit on the matter, the Kommersant daily wrote on Friday.
The FSB press bureau in the Karelian capital of Petrozavodsk confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat that this was the case.
According to FSB, "the fliers incited people to unlawful extremism".
A few hundred paper fliers have been issued, but so far the identity of the distributor has remained elusive. The security agency has confiscated the fliers.
Because of the prolonged period of cold weather, the Karelia area is experiencing great difficulties in heat distribution. In people's residences the temperature has fallen close to a mere ten degrees Celsius. Schools and day-care centres are also struggling with lack of heat.
The Communist Party representative Ljudmila Afanasieva, who lives in Sortavala, considered the fliers a mere publicity stunt.
"Somebody decided to exploit Sortavala's difficulties. We've never had a shortage of dummies here", Afanasieva commented over the telephone.
In addition to Sortavala, the fliers had also found their way to the neighbouring Lahdenpohja, which has particularly been afflicted by the cold weather. Because of the lack of heating, schools have had to be shut.
On Thursday of last week the Lahdenpohja residents appealed to President Dmitri Medvedev to get their homes supplied with heat.![[1] photo from article](/eng/content/2010/02/04/11360_1.jpg){kind=link}