Two drones suspected of violating Finnish airspace at the weekend likely came from Ukraine, which is at war with Finland’s neighbour Russia, the Nordic nation’s border guard said on Tuesday.
The drones entered Finland’s airspace from the south and flew towards the northeast into Russian territory, but where they ended up was unknown, the border guard said.
The suspected airspace violations took place in the eastern Gulf of Finland, near Finland’s 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry said Sunday its military air defence units had intercepted 334 Ukrainian drones during the night across around 15 regions.
Some were close to Saint Petersburg, around 150 kilometres from the Finnish municipality of Virolahti where one of the drones was sighted.
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation was probing Sunday’s suspected drone incursions as “aggravated endangerment of public safety”, while the Finnish border guard was responsible for investigating the suspected territorial violations.
They were also investigating four stray Ukrainian drones that crashed in Finland at the end of March and in April.
On Sunday, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told the Yle broadcaster that he had discussed the latest incidents with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during bilateral talks in Armenia.
“I pointed out that Finland supports Ukraine and understands its defence. But it is still unacceptable that Finnish airspace is being violated and drones stray into our airspace,” Orpo said.
Zelensky meanwhile wrote on social media platform X that he had offered Finland a “drone deal”.
“Ukraine is ready to share its expertise and strengthen those who have been strengthening us since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion,” he wrote.
The post did not mention the drone sightings in Finland.
In March, Ukraine apologised to Helsinki after two drones crashed in southern Finland, saying they were likely knocked off course by Russian interference.
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