Finnish Defense Ministry: Russian Survey Ship Suspected to Have Violated Territorial Waters

The Finnish government has stated that they suspect a Russian ship violated the country’s territorial waters on Friday (July 26), as reported by the Epoch Times on July 27.

The incident reportedly took place in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. The Finnish Defense Ministry issued a statement saying, “The Border Guard is investigating the incident and will provide further information as the investigation progresses.”

No details of the event were disclosed by the Finnish Defense Ministry.

According to the Finnish media outlet Helsingin Sanomat, quoting Petter Stauffer, chief investigator of the Border Guard, the ship in question is the “Mikhail Kazansky,” a submarine exploration vessel belonging to the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet.

The report mentioned that the Russian vessel is mainly used for underwater terrain surveys and maintenance work. After midday on Friday, the ship entered the Finnish territorial waters south of Hamina town without authorization.

The Border Guard stated that the vessel left the area under escort of Finnish border patrol boats. The incident lasted about 7 minutes, with the Russian vessel traveling approximately 1.2 nautical miles in Finnish waters.

A spokesperson for the Border Guard, in an interview with the media, stated that weather conditions and visibility could not explain this violation. They pointed out that the weather was good, and visibility was clear when the incident occurred, indicating no reason for the Russian ship to mistakenly enter Finnish waters.

The Finnish Defense Ministry and the Border Guard did not immediately respond to requests for further comments from Reuters.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, relations between Finland and Russia have deteriorated. This prompted Finland to abandon its decades of non-aligned policy, join NATO, and close all border crossings with Russia.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border with Russia. Last month, Finland reported four Russian military aircraft violating its airspace on June 10.

Earlier this month, the Finnish parliament approved a border security law authorizing border guards to prevent asylum seekers from Russia from entering the country. The legislation is temporary and valid for one year from the date of enactment.

(This article references reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Maritime Executive)