On Thursday, Finland’s military reported that the day before, its forces had detected a “strike” against a Russian warship in the Baltic Sea, but that the security situation in the area remained stable, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
It is currently unknown whether there were any casualties or what exactly caused the strike. Estonian media reported on Thursday that it involved a small Russian naval vessel, which later returned to St. Petersburg.
“The Finnish Defence Forces detected... a strike against a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland area and monitored the development of the situation,” a spokesperson for the Finnish armed forces said in a written statement to Reuters.
According to the spokesperson, Finland is not currently facing any immediate military threat. The Defence Forces declined to provide further details about the location or timing of the incident, or how it was detected.
In addition
The media outlet adds that Ukraine has repeatedly sent waves of military drones toward the Leningrad region in northwestern Russia. The region is home to St. Petersburg, as well as the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea — an important export hub for goods such as oil and grain.
Some Ukrainian drones have entered the airspace of Finland and the Baltic states, raising concerns that the war could spread to NATO countries bordering Russia and its ally, Belarus.
Early Wednesday morning, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania warned their citizens to seek shelter because of drones appearing in their airspace; in response, NATO scrambled fighter jets.
The Gulf of Finland is a narrow part of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia that extends eastward toward St. Petersburg.