Helsinki, Finland – Finland announced on Sunday that it had detected what it suspected was a drone incursion into its airspace in the southeast of the country.
Defense Minister Petteri Orpo suggested the incident might be linked to recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities.
The Finnish Ministry of Defense explained that air traffic control detected several small objects moving slowly
at low altitude over a maritime area in the southeast of the country.
This prompted the Finnish Air Force to scramble F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets to identify the objects.
Initial investigations confirmed that one of the objects was a Ukrainian An-196 drone.
Context of regional tensions
This incident comes days after several Ukrainian drones crashed in Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania after straying from their intended targets during attacks on Russian oil export facilities on the Baltic coast.
Petteri Orpo told Finnish public broadcaster YLE, “Russia possesses advanced electronic jamming capabilities,
which could explain why these drones veered into Finnish airspace, a very serious matter.”
Intensify attacks and strengthen defenses
The past few weeks have seen an intensification of Ukrainian drone attacks against Russian oil refineries and export routes.
These attempts have aimed to weaken Russia’s military economy amid stalled peace talks sponsored by Washington.
The Finnish Air Force has confirmed its readiness to respond to any aerial threats.
Constant monitoring of the airspace in the southeast of the country
and its territorial waters is in place to ensure that national sovereignty is not violated.
