A Ukrainian drone carrying an unexploded warhead crashed in Finland on Sunday, marking the first time the conflict with Russia has directly impacted Finnish soil, according to a preliminary assessment by Finnish police.
Ukraine has since apologised for the incident, explaining that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had gone astray during its war with Russia, most likely due to electronic interference from Moscow.
No injuries or damage were reported following the crash in Finland’s southeast.
The incident comes as Ukraine has intensified its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export routes in recent weeks, some located close to the Finnish border.
These strikes are part of an effort to weaken Russia’s war economy.
Finnish police confirmed in a statement: “The UAV that came down north of Kouvola was found, in a preliminary assessment by the authorities, to have an unexploded warhead attached.”
Identified as a Ukrainian AN196 drone with a 6.7-metre (22-foot) wingspan, it was subsequently destroyed in a controlled detonation.
Debris froma second drone, also thought to be Ukrainian, was found in the municipality of Luumaki, east of the town of Kouvola, and officers were investigating whether it detonated when it crashed, police added.
“We can confirm that under no circumstances were any Ukrainian drones directed towards Finland … We have already apologised to the Finnish side for this incident,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman said.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed the incident in a phone call on Monday.
“Alex and I see the situation in the same way. We are sharing all necessary information,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media.
The incident comes as two stray Ukrainian military drones entered the airspace of Estonia and Latvia via Russia last week.
The drones that hit the NATO member nations were believed to be part of a wider Ukrainian attack on Russia, Latvian and Estonian authorities said. They follow another stray Ukrainian drone that Lithuania said on Monday had crashed into a lake.
The drones landed in Estonia and Latvia at around the time that Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack set fire to oil facilities at Russia’s Baltic Sea ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, major export hubs located near Estonia and Finland.