One of the drones was identified as Ukrainian, but responsibility was placed on the Russian Federation
On the morning of March 29, two unmanned aerial vehicles of undetermined origin crashed in the southeastern part of Finland. Helsinki believes these were Ukrainian drones, but they entered due to Russian electronic warfare.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Bloomberg.
Also read: The largest disruptions in history: SBS revealed details of strikes on Russian oil ports
“The Finnish Defense Forces are investigating the origin of several drones that entered its airspace before crashing on Sunday morning,” the publication noted.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo suggested that the drones might belong to Ukraine and “went off course.” Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen stated that the incident is very serious.
“We take this matter very seriously. Security agencies responded immediately. The investigation is ongoing, and further details will be provided after verifying the information,” he said.
The drones, as indicated in the statement from the country’s Ministry of Defense, were flying very low. Military aviation – an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet – was deployed to track them in the sky. Eventually, one of the drones crashed north of the city of Kouvola, while the other crashed to the east of the settlement.
The first drone was identified as the An-196 “Lyuty,” a Ukrainian strike long-range drone, the Finnish Air Force stated. The type of the other drone could not be determined.
This is noted as the first case of a drone violating Finland’s border since 2022. Finland has strengthened its security following incidents when several Ukrainian drones deviated from their course during strikes on the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga in Russia, with one crashing into a power plant chimney in Estonia, while others crashed in Latvia and Lithuania.
“Russia is conducting strong electronic jamming, which may explain why these drones are also entering Finnish airspace,” Orpo explained.
Attacks on the Leningrad Region of the Russian Federation
Recall that on the night of March 29, drones attacked the Leningrad region of Russia for the third time recently. As a result, a fire broke out in the port of “Ust-Luga.” The attack was carried out by long-range drones from the Special Operations Center “Alpha” of the SBU.
It should be noted that on March 25, a “fire” broke out in the territory of the port of “Ust-Luga” following a drone attack. On March 27, unknown drones attacked the oil-loading ports in Ust-Luga and Primorsk for the second time. As a result, both ports were engulfed in large-scale fires.
Western media reported on March 27 that nearly half of Russia’s oil exports were “shut down” after Ukraine successfully struck the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Ukrainian drone forces later confirmed that they caused the largest supply disruptions of petroleum products in modern Russian history. Successful attacks on ports and oil refineries are disrupting the enemy’s logistics chains.
