Finland Issues Precautionary Drone Alert Near Helsinki After Ukrainian Drones Stray Into Airspace

Finnish authorities warned the public of drones possibly entering its airspace near the capital city Helsinki in the early hours of Friday after overnight Ukrainian strikes on Russia near Finland prompted concern that unmanned aircraft had strayed into the country.

Flights were disrupted at Helsinki-Vantaa, the country’s biggest airport. 8 million residents of southern Finland were told to remain indoors.

The emergency warning was issued at 3:49am local time. Authorities said a drone was expected to be heading towards an area between Helsinki and Porvoo, home to Neste Oyj’s oil refinery on the south coast. A warning about a possible drone attack appeared at a Helsinki tram stop that morning.

The alert was lifted at 7:06am. Fighter jets were scrambled during the incident, according to South China Morning Post reported. The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that 355 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.

The northernmost region mentioned in the Russian Ministry of Defence drone report was the city of Pskov. Pskov borders Estonia and Latvia but not Finland. Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen a string of recent incidents where Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have strayed into their airspace.

It was not immediately known if Friday’s incident was similar to previous drone strays. The incident was the first such warning for the capital city Helsinki. South China Morning Post reported that the early hours warning said a drone could be heading towards an area on the south coast.