A drone expert and former CIA officer said shooting down a drone that falls into Russian territory would carry risks.
Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has condemned the two military drones that strayed into Finnish territory over the weekend.
As the incident over the Gulf of Finland unfolded on Sunday morning, Ukraine was carrying out a drone attack on Russia’s oil port Primorsk, roughly 50km from the Finnish border.
“We will not allow this. They must plan their operations so that the risk of deviations due to Russian interference is minimised, so that something like this cannot happen,” Häkkänen said.
The minister noted that he was ‘immediately’ informed about the situation on Sunday morning. He said Finnish Air Force Hornet fighter jets and Army helicopters were sent to track the drones.
Finland imposed a temporary no-fly zone in the region in response to the incident.
Sunday was not the first time Russia-bound drones have strayed into Finland. Earlier this spring, several Ukrainian UAVs were found in southeast Finland following Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil ports along the Gulf of Finland.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) held bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend. Orpo said he spoke with Zelensky about Sunday’s incident, adding that following their talks, Ukraine would be more cautious about preventing drones from straying into Finnish territory.
On Tuesday, the Finnish Border Guard said that the drones that entered Finnish airspace over the weekend were very likely from Ukraine.
“There is no other option than that they are Ukrainian,” investigation chief Jyri Siitari said.
Too close to the border to shoot down
The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) said a decision was made not to intercept or shoot down the drones because they were too close to the Russian border.
According to Defence Minister Häkkänen, using Finnish airspace in that manner is unacceptable.
“Using our airspace for such operations is completely prohibited. It is unequivocally prohibited. We have very strongly communicated to the Ukrainian state that even these drones that have strayed due to negligence are a reprehensible thing,” Häkkänen said.
According to former CIA operations officer and current drone consultant, James Acuna, shooting down a drone that would end up on Russian territory would carry risks.
In the worst case, according to Acuna, it could give Russia a pretext to carry out a major military escalation.
Nordefco meeting this week
Minister Antti Häkkänen is attending a Nordic Defence Cooperation (Nordefco) meeting in Norway on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The defence ministers are set to discuss enhanced cooperation in areas including military mobility, logistics, air force collaboration, and boosting ammunition production capacity.
Their agenda also includes Nato-related topics and regional security issues.
In a ministry press release about the meeting Häkkänen emphasised the importance of improving interoperability to strengthen Nato’s deterrence and defence.
Norway is hosting this year’s Nordefco meeting, and chaired by Nowegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik.
Edited at 16:00 on 5 May 2026 to add the Finnish Border Guard stating that the drones that entered Finnish airspace on Sunday very likely came from Ukraine.
