The head of Finland’s Defence Intelligence has warned that the risk of drones inadvertently entering Finnish airspace is rising due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Major General Pekka Turunen, Chief of Finnish Defence Intelligence, spoke to AFP ahead of the release of a Finnish military intelligence report updating the country’s security situation. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia.
A key concern highlighted in the report is the potential for long-range drones to drift into Finnish territory.
“The risk of a drone drifting into Finnish airspace or onto Finnish territory is growing all the time, especially as Ukraine conducts strikes near the Gulf of Finland,” Turunen said.
He explained that Ukrainian attacks on nearby oil ports and Russia’s use of GPS jamming could cause drones navigating via GPS to be diverted unintentionally. “If a drone relies on GPS to reach its target, jamming could redirect it elsewhere,” he added. So far, no such incidents have occurred.
While Finland’s security environment has worsened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turunen noted that the military threat has remained largely stable compared to last year.
Following the invasion, Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment, joining NATO in April 2023.
Turunen also suggested that recent political events, including Donald Trump’s attempt to acquire Greenland, may have indirectly emboldened Russia. “At least politically, it may have encouraged Russia, as the West, NATO, and Europe appear distracted and divided,” he said.
Trump’s earlier threats of tariffs against Europe over Greenland caused tension in Brussels and placed unprecedented strain on NATO, Turunen added, referring to the geopolitical context influencing Russia’s actions.