“I couldn’t breathe.” A strong mysterious smell from Russia has taken over the coastal area from St. Petersburg to Helsinki

A strong smell, the cause of which could not be determined, but which came from Russia, was reported in the region around the Finnish capital, Helsinki, the city’s emergency department said on Sunday.

The smell was felt over an area of ​​at least 60 square kilometers along the southern coast of Finland. According to the first information, the smell resembles that of sulfur or burnt rubber, according to the department quoted by the Independent.

“In Helsinki and the Uusimaa region a strong smell was felt from time to time. The emergency services and other authorities are currently investigating. According to information obtained from air quality measurements made by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the smell does not pose a health risk. The authorities will collaborate in carrying out the investigations”, according to a message posted on the X social network.

Russian media outlet Fontanka reported on Sunday that residents in several areas of St. Petersburg, the closest Russian city to Finland, also complained of an unpleasant smell, comparing it to that of gas, garbage or burning rubber.

“He reached Vasilyevsky Island. It smells like a mixture of garbage, burnt rubber and burning. I woke up at 7 in the morning because of the smell, I closed all the windows,” Dasha Nukolova wrote on a social network.

“Yes, even in Primorskaya you can’t breathe, it smells terrible, like gas. I woke up with a headache and couldn’t breathe,” Masha Artamonova also wrote.

According to the local authorities quoted by Fontanka, the monitoring stations did not register values ​​above the permitted levels of air pollution.

A Russian environmental management committee also claimed that the nearest air monitoring stations did not register excessive pollutant levels.

Publisher: GM

Download the Digi24 app and find out the most important news of the day