Several low-flying objects were observed in Finnish airspace on Sunday morning, the Ministry of Defence in Helsinki announced early Sunday afternoon.
"Drones have strayed into Finnish territory. We are taking the matter very seriously. The security authorities have reacted immediately," said Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen in a statement.
The Finnish Air Force confirmed in a press release that at least one of the drones is a Ukrainian AN196 and that its fighter jets followed it, but avoided shooting it down to avoid damage to the surrounding area.
“Electronic interference”
Before the confirmation, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told Yle that he considered it likely that the drones came from Ukraine.
"It is clear that Ukraine, which is defending itself against Russia's war of aggression, has carried out attacks in our neighboring areas over the past week. It has already been noticed that it is having consequences," he said in a radio broadcast according to Hufvudstadsbladet.
Russia has very strong electronic interference, and that could explain why drones are also straying into Finnish airspace. It is very serious.
The drones fell to the ground north and east of the city of Kouvola, which is located just over 100 kilometers northeast of Helsinki. The Air Force has confirmed that there are two drones, but has not provided any further information about the second one that crashed.
Attacks on the Gulf of Finland
According to Minister of Defence Häkkänen, the incidents are being investigated.
On Friday, the Finnish Defence Forces announced that drone surveillance on Finland's eastern border is being increased, following Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland. Last Sunday, the Russian port of Ust-Luga on the other side of the gulf, near Estonia, was reported to have been attacked.
This week, drones have also crashed in Estonia and Latvia. In both cases, they were Ukrainian drones, according to authorities in the respective countries.
