Mysterious smell in several regions of Russia and Finland. ‘Woke up with a headache and couldn’t breathe’

A strong and mysterious smell has been reported in the region around Finland’s capital Helsinki, the city’s rescue department said on Sunday, and reports of the smell have also been received from parts of Russia, reports The Independent.

The smell was felt in an area stretching at least 60 km along Finland’s southern coast and resembled sulfur or burning rubber, the department said.

“In Helsinki and in Uusimaa, especially, a strong odor was felt from time to time in the air. The rescue service and other authorities are currently investigating this matter,” Helsinki rescue department wrote in a post on X.

Authorities are investigating

“According to the current information from the air quality measurements of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the smell does not pose a health risk. The authorities will continue to investigate the matter in cooperation”, the authorities then reassured the Finns.

For its part, the Russian media reported on Sunday that residents of several areas of Saint Petersburg, the Russian city closest to Finland, complained of an unpleasant smell, comparing it to that of gas, garbage or burnt rubber

“He reached Vasilyevsky Island. It smells like a mixture of garbage, burnt rubber and cinders. I woke up because of the smell at 7 in the morning, I closed all the windows,” Dasha Nukolova, a Russian resident of the area, said on social media.

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

Air quality measurements

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

A Russian environmental management committee also claimed that the nearest atmospheric air monitoring stations did not register excess pollution.

Until this moment, neither the Finnish nor the Russian authorities have been able to establish the origin of the mysterious and unpleasant smell.