Finland’s premier Petteri Orpo says they are likely Ukrainian drones that went astray due to Russian jamming of signals. Helsinki says Kyiv has been carrying out drone attacks on Russian territories along the more than 1,300 km border with Finland.
Two unidentified drones crashed near the southern Finnish city of Kouvola on Sunday in what the country’s defence ministry believes is a "suspected territorial violation”.
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Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says they may have been stray Ukrainian drones.
"Drones have strayed into Finland's territory. We take this very seriously," said Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen in a statement, adding that security authorities had been sent to the scene to investigate the incident.
Orpo, speaking to Finnish state-broadcaster Yle, said it is “likely that these are Ukrainian drones, but this will be investigated and then announced later."
Orpo noted that Ukraine has recently carried out attacks on Russian territories along the 1,340 kilometre border with Finland. He added that the Kremlin’s jamming of signals may have caused Ukrainian drones to go astray.
Hakkanen said the investigation was ongoing "and further details will be provided once the information has been verified."
According to the Finnish defence ministry, "a few low-flying slow objects were observed in Finnish airspace in the sea area and in southeastern Finland on Sunday morning." The air force sent up an F/A-18 Hornet fighter on an identification mission, it added.
"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 ministry noted.