Finland closes airspace, restricts maritime traffic near Russia over drone risk

Finland‘s military said on Tuesday it had closed a section of Finnish airspace and restricted maritime traffic off the country’s southern coast near the Russian border due to a risk of stray drones in the area.

Ukrainian military drones targeting Russia have strayed into the airspace of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this year, raising concerns that the war in Ukraine is spilling over into NATO’s northern borders.

Finland was taking the steps “so that we can ensure the authorities are able to operate if drones were to stray into the area, meaning safe countermeasures and the safety of bystanders,” a military spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the military could not comment on the source of the information about possible drone activity, “as it is operational information”.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian targets with long range drones. It and NATO countries have blamed Russian signal jamming for diverting some Ukrainian drones into NATO airspace. Moscow accuses Ukraine of intentionally steering drones across the borders.

(Reporting by Essi Lehto and Elviira Luoma. Editing by Terje Solsvik)