Finland says it restricted air and sea traffic in south due to Ukrainian attack near St Petersburg

Mariya Yemets, Tetyana Oliynyk - 4 July, 17:14

Finland’s national flag. Photo: Getty Images

Finland has officially confirmed that it restricted air and maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland on the morning of 4 July because of a Ukrainian attack on targets on the outskirts of St Petersburg.

Source: Yle, Finland's national public broadcasting company, citing Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen; European Pravda

Details: Häkkänen confirmed that restrictions lasting about four hours in the Gulf of Finland on the morning of 4 July were linked to a Ukrainian UAV attack on targets inside Russia. He said the measures were precautionary and that the situation was not considered serious enough to warrant issuing air-raid warnings for residents along the Gulf of Finland coast.

The Finnish military ultimately recorded no violations of the country's airspace.

Quote from Häkkänen: "We were prepared to counter the drones using fighter jets, helicopters and naval equipment had they strayed off course. But in the end they didn't."

More details: Häkkänen noted that such precautionary measures may become more frequent.

Quote from Häkkänen: "Ukraine is highly likely to continue these successful strikes on Russia. It sees that Russia is sustaining significant damage and that this will increase pressure on Moscow to make peace. I therefore believe the attacks will continue.

Finns must be prepared for the fact that drone-related incidents near our borders are definitely going to continue."

Background:

On 4 July, the Finnish Defence Forces reportedly imposed temporary restrictions on aviation and maritime traffic in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland from 05:18 to 09:18 local time, which matches Kyiv time.
This is already the second such episode this week. The previous restrictions were imposed in the early hours of 2 July.
On the night of 3-4 July, the Russian authorities claimed that drones had attacked Moscow. Reports later emerged of strikes near St Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said that the targets around St Petersburg were port oil infrastructure used to finance Russia's war effort, as well as a military base in Kronstadt.

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