Ukraine has formally issued an apology to Finland after unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) breached Finnish airspace over the weekend. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs attributed the navigational error to interference from Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems.
In a statement to journalists on Monday, March 30, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi confirmed that Kyiv is in close communication with Helsinki and is sharing all necessary data to clarify the circumstances of the airspace violation, which occurred in southeastern Finland on Sunday, March 29.
"We can state affirmatively that under no circumstances were any Ukrainian drones directed towards Finland. The most likely cause is a deviation caused by Russian electronic warfare systems," Tykhyi explained. "We have already apologized to the Finnish side for this incident."
The spokesperson further emphasized that both nations agree the root cause of the incident—and broader regional security challenges—is the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The Finnish Air Force successfully identified one of the objects that crossed into their territory on Sunday afternoon as a Ukrainian An-196 "Liutyi" drone.
Addressing the situation, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo noted that the drones, which ultimately crashed on Finnish soil, were likely of Ukrainian origin. The incident coincided with a series of Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian military infrastructure in the Leningrad region, which shares a border with Finland.
In response to the airspace breach, the Finnish parliamentary defense committee announced an extraordinary meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 31. Lawmakers will convene to assess the drone incident and discuss broader national defense strategies.
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