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The Finnish Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that investigates a possible violation of its airspace by two Russian fighter planes that took place this morning in the south of the country.
According to the Finnish authorities, the incident took place at 9:40 local time (7:40 Lisbon time) in front of the coastal city of Porvoo, about 47 kilometers east of Helsinki.
The aircraft, preliminarily identified as two Russian MIG-31 fighter jets, is suspected entered about a kilometer into Finnish territoryheading west, violating their airspace for about two minutes.
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According to the Finnish Ministry of Defense, as soon as the incident was detected, the Finnish Air Force sent one of its fighter jets to carry out a reconnaissance flight in the area.
“The Border Guard has launched an investigation and will provide further information on the matter once it completes this investigation,” the ministry said in a statement.
If the incursion of Russian warplanes is confirmed, it will be of the third infringement of Finnish airspace by Russian planes this year, after an Mi-17 military helicopter and an official Ilyushin IL-96-300 plane overflew the Nordic country without authorization in April and May.
Finland, which is waiting for the 30 member states of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to ratify its and Sweden’s entry into the Western defense bloc, intensified surveillance of its territory in the face of repeated threats from neighboring Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Several countries in the Baltic Sea region, including Estonia, Sweden and Denmark, have also reported similar violations of their airspace by Russian planes since the beginning of this year.
Source: Observadora
