Finnish police said on Monday that a Ukrainian drone that crashed in southern Finland carried an unexploded warhead. There were no injuries or reported damage.
The drone came down on Sunday north of Kouvola, a town about 100 kilometers west of Finland’s border with Russia. Authorities said a preliminary assessment identified the device as a Ukrainian AN196 model and that it was destroyed in a controlled detonation. Debris from a second drone was later found near Luumaki, just east of Kouvola, and a reported sighting in the village of Pyhtaa to the south was likely connected to the incidents. Finland’s Defense Ministry described the events on Sunday as a “suspected territorial violation.”
Finnish authorities said they are investigating the matter as “grossly negligent endangerment,” while the border guard is probing a possible territorial violation.
Ukrainian officials apologized to Finland, saying the drones were not deliberately directed 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Finnish President Alexander Stubb were aligned on the issue and were sharing necessary information.
The incidents come amid an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and port facilities in recent weeks, including sites near the Finnish border, part of efforts to limit Moscow’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares the EU’s longest border with Russia and joined NATO in April 2023. Edited by: Rana Taha