Finland Suspects Russian Ship Violated Its Maritime Space

Finland suspects that a Russian ship violated its maritime space this afternoon, the Finnish Ministry of Defence said.

The incident comes as relations between the two neighbouring countries, which share a 1,340-kilometre border, have deteriorated following Finland's accession to NATO in 2023, with several border incidents occurring.

 

On 10 June, four Russian military aircraft spent around two minutes in Finnish airspace off the town of Loviisa (south), the Finnish ministry said in a statement, adding that the Russian aircraft entered around 2.5 kilometres inside the Nordic country.

Regarding the situation reported today, the Finnish coastguard is opening an investigation into the suspected violation of maritime space off the Gulf of Finland and will report back as soon as the investigations are finalised, the ministry's press release added, without providing further details.

Finland closed its land border with Russia in December 2023, with Helsinki accusing Moscow of organising the arrival of undocumented migrants to destabilise the Nordic country.

This influx of asylum seekers served as a pretext for the approval in mid-July of a controversial bill authorising Finnish border guards to refuse entry to these migrants without examining their applications.