Global News Excerpts (w/c: 09MAY21)

[CPL Price]

• Two Dozen dead, including Russian Consul - Terrorist attack in Finland - BBC News
  
  Tragedy struck this evening at the Russian consulate in Turku, Finland, where a group of armed individuals stormed the building and killed numerous civilians and security members. The Russian consul himself was evacuated from the premises and escorted to his vehicle, but the motorcade struck a preplaced IED, according to security forces later present at the site. The Consul did not survive the explosion.
  
  All camera crews and press members were prohibited from approaching the area, after police cordoned off the consulate. However, through priority sources, the BBC has received CCTV recording from the consulate during the attack. After analysing video footage and questioning eye-witnesses, it is believed that the attackers were a well-organised and well-trained group, but this would mark the first coordinated domestic terrorist attack in Finland in over 4 years.
  
  
  
  The last known terrorist attack was in 2017 by ISIS lone-wolf, Abderrahman Bouanane, who stabbed and killed 2 and injured 10. ISIS has not yet taken credit for the attack and it is unclear what the motive for the attack on Finnish soil would be.
  
  The total casualties of the attack on the Russian consulate have yet to be confirmed by the Finnish or Russian government, with the current projections counting at least 26 dead and 8 wounded. Speculations that this was a targeted attack on the Consul have already started to surface. The Russian President has not made a statement yet, but the BBC’s office in Moscow is reporting a flurry of activity from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defence.
  

• Attack on the Russian Consulate in Turku - Helsinki Times
  
  More than 25 were killed this morning at the Russian consulate in Turku, after a paramilitary group raided the building, executing civilians and security members alike. The Russian Consul, despite being evacuated from the building, was also killed in what is being speculated to be a pre-placed explosive device on his escort route. Comments are expected from both the Finnish and Russian president as the situation develops, however, the increasing number of terrorist acts and growing support for Ultranationalist and pro-Russian causes does not bode well for Finland.
  

• 25 Dead During Terror Attack In Finland, Targets Russian Diplomats - Reuters
  
  A seemingly peaceful anti-Russian protest outside the Russian diplomatic outpost in Turku turned deadly on Wednesday afternoon, when a group of masked individuals began a coordinated assault of the building with assault weapons, gunning down those working at the consulate, as well as innocent pedestrians nearby. Russian Security Forces working at the consulate were reported to have returned fire, before attempting to lock the assailants out from the building, but were unsuccessful and died while attempting to protect those inside the building and on the street.   
  
  Authorities have also confirmed that an explosion did take place nearly a block from the Russian Consulate, in what is believed to have been an attack designed to target as many members of the Russian delegation as possible and to include the General Consul himself- Semyon Kuvayev. First responders to the scene of the explosion did not comment, but the Russian Foreign Minister Zinoviy Senerov did confirm that the Consul General Kuvayev was killed in the attack, though did not specify in which attack the Consul General was killed.
  
  Russian President Basuda held a press conference on Thursday morning, calling “for unity and mourning, to heal the difference and unrest amongst our allied countries." However, members of the Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs, spoken to the BBC on a condition on anonymity, indicated that Basuda is furious of apparent Finnish wavering of Finnish-Russian bilateral ties in the face of growing domestic unrest and instability. Of most apparent concern, other high-ranking officials have made passes to their Finnish colleagues that failure to honor the Finnish-Russian COVID-19 Economic Revitalization Treaty of 2021, which allows Russian private military contractors and gas/oil businesses to explore and extract reserves throughout southern Finland, would face severe backlash in Russian circles should the Finnish President cave to domestic pressure to expel the Russians. 
  

These published news excerpts are the fictional works of the S-2 Intelligence Team of the 506th IRRU.