Finnish police said on Monday that a Ukrainian drone that crashed in southern Finland carried an unexploded warhead. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
The device went down on Sunday north of Kouvola, a town roughly 100 kilometers from Finland’s border with Russia. Authorities said a preliminary assessment identified the drone as a Ukrainian AN196 model and that it was destroyed in a controlled detonation. Debris from a second drone was later found near Luumaki, east of Kouvola, and a reported sighting in the village of Pyhtaa to the south is believed to be connected to the same incidents. Finland’s Defence Ministry called Sunday’s events a “suspected territorial violation.”
Finnish police are investigating the case as “grossly negligent endangerment,” while the border guard is probing whether a territorial violation occurred.
Ukrainian officials apologized to Finland, saying the drones were not intentionally aimed at Finnish territory. “Under no circumstances were any Ukrainian drones directed toward Finland. The most likely cause is interference from Russian electronic warfare systems. We have already apologized to the Finnish side for this incident,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy told reporters.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Finnish President Alexander Stubb were aligned on the matter and exchanging necessary information.
The incidents come as Ukraine has increased drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and port facilities in recent weeks, including targets near the Finnish border, efforts Kyiv says aim to curb Moscow’s ability to finance the war. Finland, which shares the EU’s longest border with Russia, joined NATO in April 2023.