Two Russian fighter jets violated Finnish airspace on Thursday, the Finnish Defense Ministry said, as the northern country enters the midst of a joint bid with Sweden to join NATO.
Two Russian fighter jets violated Finnish airspace on Thursday, the Finnish Defense Ministry said, as the northern country enters the midst of a joint bid with Sweden to join NATO. “Two Russian MiG-31s are suspected of violating Finnish airspace in the Gulf of Finland off Porvoo,” the ministry said in a statement. The Finnish Air Force has taken off an aircraft identification device, the ministry said, adding that the Finnish border guards have started a “preliminary investigation”.
A defense ministry spokesman told AFP that the incident occurred at 9:40 am (0640 GMT) and lasted about two minutes as the fighters flew west for about a kilometer.
Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia and is traditionally militarily unaligned, began a historic turning point in May by applying to join NATO, after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Finland’s Internal Security Service (SOPO) warned in May that “Russia has the will” to influence the Finnish NATO application process and that “various attempts to do so are expected”.
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