A group of masked men threw sledgehammers at the Finnish embassy in Moscow on Tuesday in an apparent tribute to a sickening execution carried out by Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group. Sledgehammers have become something of a dark symbol for supporters of Wagner—created by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin—after the group made an ISIS-style execution video last month in which a prisoner accused of betraying Wagner is beaten to death with a sledgehammer. Mercenaries in the group later sent a sledgehammer engraved with the Wagner logo and fake blood on the handle to the European Parliament as EU lawmakers declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. It’s unclear as to why the Finnish embassy was targeted, though one Telegram account sharing the clip claimed it came in response to “numerous provocations against Russian diplomatic targets in Finland.” Finland has staunchly supported Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion and applied to join NATO in May. “I can confirm that this attack happened at around noon local time in Moscow in front of the embassy,” Karoliina Romanoff, a Communications Officer in Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “There were no casualties or damage to the building. The ministry is still looking into it.”
In #Moscow, a group of Z-patriots in balaclavas threw sledgehammers at the building of the #Finnish Embassy.
In November, a video of Yevgeny Prigozhin's company "Concord" handing over a bloody sledgehammer in a violin case "to be sent to the European Parliament" appeared online. pic.twitter.com/njovDCjhIs
