The Finnish Defense Ministry announces the start of a “preliminary investigation” into two Russian warplanes suspected of flying into national airspace for two minutes.
Two Russian warplanes are suspected of violating Finnish airspace on Thursday, August 18, the Finnish Defense Ministry said, while the Nordic country is in the midst of a joint bid with Sweden to join NATO.
“Two Russian MIG-31 fighters are suspected of violating Finnish airspace in the Gulf of Finland off Porvoo,” the ministry said in a statement. The Finnish Air Force took down a device identifying the planes, the ministry said, adding that Finnish border guards had launched “a preliminary investigation”.
Also readWar in Ukraine: between indifference and support for Russia, influenced South American opinions
The incident occurred at 9:40 a.m. (0640 GMT) and lasted about two minutes as the fighters flew about a kilometer to the west, a Defense Ministry spokesman told AFP. Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia and is traditionally non-aligned militarily, began a historic turning point in May when it applied to join NATO following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Finland’s Internal Security Service (Supo) warned in May that “Russia has the will” to influence Finland’s NATO application process and that “various attempts to do so are to be expected”.