Finnish authorities confirmed Wednesday that a drone found a day earlier on a frozen lake near its border with Russia was Ukrainian, after Kyiv said Russian interference had knocked some of its drones off course.
A “foreign unmanned aircraft” was detected on the ice of Lake Pyhajarvi in Parikkala in eastern Finland on Tuesday, two days after two stray drones crashed in southern Finland.
“Based on the information currently available, it is clear that the aircraft is of Ukrainian origin and may be linked to the same series of events that have been observed in Finland recently,” the Border Guard said in a statement.
The Border Guard, which has launched a preliminary investigation said the aircraft likely entered Finnish airspace between March 30 and March 31.
Police said the aircraft had been “rendered harmless” through a “controlled explosion” on Wednesday, amid “a very strong suspicion it had a warhead”.
The drone did not hurt anyone or cause property damage, police said.
Officials have confirmed that one of the two stray drones that crashed Sunday in Finland was Ukrainian and Kyiv apologised for the incident on Monday?
Kyiv struck port facilities on Russia’s coast in the Gulf of Finland several times last week using drones.
Following the weekend crashes, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Tuesday stressed that there was no direct military threat against Finland, and that the Nordic country had been in contact with Ukraine.
When it made its apology on Monday, Ukraine said the drones had likely been knocked off course by Russian interference.
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