Summary
- Russian military aircraft violated Finnish airspace near Loviisa.
- Tensions high in Europe due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Finland and Sweden joined NATO, suspicions of Russia jamming GPS signals.
The Finnish Minister of Defense, Antti Häkkänen, has announced that a Russian military aircraft violated Finnish airspace. Tensions have been high in Europe since Russia launched its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The invasion triggered Finland to abandon its neutral policy and join NATO on April 4, 2023 (Sweden also abandoned its approx. 250-year policy of neutrality and joined NATO). While all sizes have been careful not to start a shooting war, the region has seen a hybrid war with Russia suspected of jammed GPS signals in the region, among other developments.
Russian jets violate Finnish airspace
According to Finnish authorities, a Russian military aircraft violated Finnish airspace on the morning of June 10. The violation happened off the coast of the Gulf of Finland, close to the Finnish city of Loviisa. The Fins say the aircraft was in Finnish air space for around two minutes and penetrated up to 2.5 kilometers or 1.5 miles.
Photo: vaalaa | Shutterstock
Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen stated, “We take this suspected territorial violation seriously, and investigations have begun.” According to the Finnish Ministry of Defense, the Finnish Border Guard is responsible for the preliminary investigation and will provide more information once it is complete. Russia last violated Finnish airspace in August 2022, but that was before the Nordic country became a NATO member.
These are all the details immediately released by the Finnish Ministry of Defense. The type of Russian aircraft and number of aircraft remains unclear. In an unrelated development, it appears Russia has become the first country to lose a fifth-generation fighter jet in combat after it was destroyed on the ground by Ukrainian drones.
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A tense situation
The violation of Finnish airspace is part of a greater conflict between NATO and Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While neither Russia nor NATO wants to get into a shooting war, the situation is tense. Western countries are supplying Ukraine with a large amount of weaponry to defend itself against Russian aggression. They have imposed crippling sanctions, Sweden and Finland joined NATO, and more. Russia, for its part, is accused of violating airspace, jamming GPS signals, spreading misinformation, and more.
While it is perhaps unlikely that Finland or another NATO country would fire at a Russian jet for this sort of provocation, it has happened before. During the Syrian Civil War, on 24 November 2015, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M attack aircraft along the Syria-Turkey border. Turkey claimed the Russian jet had violated Turkish airspace and was warned in advance (Russia claimed it never violated Turkish airspace).
Separately, in 2022, a rogue Russian Su-27 pilot fired on a British spy plane observing the war in Ukraine while operating in international airspace over the Black Sea. Two missiles were fired. One malfunctioned, while the other fortunately did not hit the British plane for unknown reasons. In 2023, Russian fighter jets forced an American MQ-9 Reaper drone to crash over the Black Sea.