Ukraine: Finnish cultural centre opened in Lugansk to draw tourists to Donbass

An ambitious Finnish Cultural Centre opened its doors in Lugansk on Friday in the hope that it will help locals learn about the country and get tourists to visit east Ukraine. The founders of the centre, Janus Putkonen and Jaana-Marika Kurtti, along with representatives of the local administration, took part in the opening ceremony.
According to the president of the centre, Jaana-Marika Kurtti, "one of the main goals is to archive some kind of connection with the universities of Finland." Her colleague Janus Putkonen said "we have a very strong programme for the next year, to bring more Finnish tourists and delegations to the Donbass."
The organisation also hopes to bring more tourists from Finland to Donbass with the first groups arriving in the summer and the second having travelled for the opening of the centre. They had a walk through the city with a guide and were shown around shelled areas, visited monuments dedicated to those who fought in the recent conflict as well as the grave of the recently deceased militia commander, 'Motorola.'