Finland Investigates Drones That Crashed In Its Airspace

2026-03-29 03:09:32

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Finland's Defense Forces are investigating the origin of several drones that entered its airspace before crashing on Sunday morning.

The unmanned aircraft are likely stray Ukrainian vehicles intended for Russia, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has signaled, according to public broadcaster YLE.

It's the first incidence of drones veering into Finnish airspace since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

Finland's Air Force conducted identification operations with an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet after detecting several small, slow-moving objects flying at low altitude, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

One drone fell down east of Kouvola in the southeastern part of the country, the ministry said. Another, which crashed north of the town, was identified as a Ukrainian AN196, the Air Force said in a separate statement, adding that some of the objects sighted turned out to have been flocks of birds.

A third unidentified drone landed on sea ice outside of the city of Espoo, part of the metropolitan area encompassing the capital Helsinki, according to the police.

“We are taking this matter very seriously,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said.“Security authorities have responded immediately. The investigation into the events is ongoing and further details will be provided once the information has been verified.”

Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, has intensified surveillance in the Gulf of Finland since Ukrainian drones targeted key Russian oil ports on the Baltic Sea in recent days. The port of Primorsk is about 50 kilometers from the Finnish border, while Ust-Luga is near the demarcation with Estonia.

Several Ukrainian drones veered off course during those attacks, with one hitting the chimney of a power plant in Estonia and others crashing in Latvia and Lithuania.

“Russia conducts strong electronic interference, which may explain why these drones also stray into Finland's airspace,” Orpo said on Sunday, adding that Finland didn't down them.

The Defense Forces are on heightened alert because of Ukraine's drone operations, the Air Force said.

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