Russia violates Finland's airspace for the first time since Finland joined NATO
Nation11 June 2024, 11:05 AM
A Russian military aircraft violated Finland's airspace over the Gulf of Finland near the Finnish city of Loviisa on June 10 - the first time since Finland joined NATO, Finland's Defense Ministry reported.
The plane flew in Finland's NATO-protected airspace for about two minutes, crossing at least 2.5 km into Finnish territory.
"We
take the suspected breach seriously and have immediately launched an
investigation," Finnish Defense Minister Antti Heikkinen said.
The latest similar
recorded case took place in August 2022, when two Russian fighter jets violated
Finnish airspace over the Gulf of Finland.
Finland
became a NATO member in April 2024.
The number
of NATO fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft
approaching the Alliance's airspace over the Baltic Sea increased by 20-25% over the first quarter of 2024, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source in
NATO.