Two unidentified drones crashed in southern Finland. According to the country’s prime minister, the drones may have been Ukrainian drones that strayed into Finnish airspace.
Finland’s Defense Ministry reported on Sunday a suspected territorial violation by unmanned aerial vehicles in the southern part of the country.
According to the ministry, “a few low-flying slow objects were observed in Finnish airspace in the sea area and in southeastern Finland on Sunday morning,” and the air force dispatched an F/A-18 Hornet fighter to conduct an identification mission.
“One drone has fallen to the ground north of Kouvola and another drone east of Kouvola. The police have cordoned off the areas for further investigation,” the Defense Ministry added.
What did the Finnish authorities say about the drones?
“Drones have strayed into Finland’s territory. We take this very seriously,” said Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen in a statement. He added that the investigation was ongoing “and further details will be provided once the information has been verified.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told Finnish public broadcaster Yle that it was likely these were stray Ukrainian drones. He noted that Ukraine has recently carried out attacks on areas of Russia bordering Finland.
Orpo suggested that Russian jamming of drone signals may have caused the Ukrainian drones to veer off course. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia.
Ukraine steps up drone attacks on Russia
The incident in Finland follows similar drone crashes in nearby Baltic countries.
Earlier this week, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania reported that several Ukrainian drones had crashed on their territory after going astray during attacks on Russian oil export facilities on the Baltic Sea coast.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has increased its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export routes in an attempt to weaken Russia’s war economy, as peace talks brokered by Washington have stalled.
Edited by: Rana Taha
DW News
