Russian anti-war activist Roman Golikov, 32, was detained by the Finnish police — the man was taken right out of the shower after breaking the door. He is now on his way to the police station, where he will be held in custody for at least a day until the decision on deportation. Golikov told ASTRA about this.

“I was detained right in the shower, I was taking a shower with headphones on, I was wet, I was getting dressed, the police opened the door, said: “we called, you didn’t answer.” They said I should return to Russia,” Golikov says.

According to him, the decision to detain him was made by the authorities of the city of Turku. The man will spend the night in prison until a detailed interview with the police. Presumably, on May 21 there will be a trial on Golikov’s possible deportation.

At the same time, the young man has already been denied asylum in Finland, and he has filed an appeal with the country’s Supreme Court, which is currently under consideration. However, Golikov fears that despite this, he will still be deported directly to Russia through the Brusnichnoye checkpoint, as his passport is expired.

“They told me that since my passport was expired, I would be deported directly by the Russians to the Brusnichnoye checkpoint. Therefore, they can hold a trial tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the court will say that everything is legal, and then they need to be put in the same police car and taken to the Brusnichnoye checkpoint,” Golikov said.

He says that in the worst case scenario, he has a maximum of 2-3 days to hire human rights defenders and lawyers to help him.

Golikov was an oppositionist back in Russia, donated to FBK after the organization was recognized as “extremist”, and actively spoke at pro-Ukrainian rallies in Finland. He left Russia in September 2022, a week before the mobilization.