Finland intensifies watch after Ukrainian drones hit Gulf of Finland

The Finnish Defence Forces intensified surveillance and measures to ensure territorial integrity when Ukraine carried out attacks against Russian targets in the eastern Gulf of Finland, said an official press release on Friday.

Air Forces has flown F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets over densely populated areas of southern Finland following Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil ports across the Gulf of Finland, local media reported.

The Defence Forces, together with their allies, are closely monitoring developments in the surrounding region.

“Our operations have been planned in such a way that we monitor and secure our country’s territorial integrity under all conditions, every day of the year. We maintain a real-time situational picture of military activity in our vicinity and adjust our readiness as needed,” said the Defence Forces in the press release.

The Defence Forces have prepared to counter unmanned aerial vehicles as part of a layered air defence system, and they have the capability to respond to UAVs that intentionally or unintentionally enter our airspace.

In the current situation, these activities may be particularly visible in southwestern Finland and over the eastern Gulf of Finland, as Air Force fighter aircraft and Navy readiness vessels carry out their missions.

A Ukrainian drone strike damaged an icebreaker and an old Finnish building in Vyborg on Wednesday, some 40 kilometres from Finland's eastern border, reported national broadcaster Yle.

The four-storey Agricola building was built in Vyborg in 1902, when the city was still part of Finland, the report added.