A group of St. Petersburg nudists outraged by a recent ban on baring it all at a beach popular with nudists since the 1960s are now seeking the help of some like-minded folks in Finland, Russian media reported Tuesday.
Local authorities announced in September that they were closing The Dunes, one of Russia's oldest nude beaches, and turning it into a regular beach by the end of May.
Kirill Vasilyev, head of Russia's Free Body Culture Society, has appealed to Finland's ecology minister for help, and his group plans to hold a protest in St. Petersburg that will feature busloads of naked Finns, he told the Russian News Service.
Vasilyev is confident that the collaboration could help his group win back the Leningrad region beach where for over five decades nudists have been basking in the sun without tan lines.
The two countries share the coastline on the Gulf of Finland where the beach is located and collaborate on many nature conservation projects in the area, he said.