Finland suspects Russian naval vessel of violating its maritime territory
Finland has reported a suspected violation of its territorial waters by a Russian naval research vessel, Reuters reports.
Finland's government said the incident took place on Friday in the eastern Gulf of Finland, while daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted border guard chief investigator Petter Stauffer as saying the vessel in question was a seabed exploration ship, operating under Russian naval command, Reuters reports.
Stauffer told the paper the ship was escorted out of the area by a Finnish border guard vessel, which took just a few minutes, while, Finland's defense ministry stated, the border guard is conducting an investigation, and will provide more information in due course.
Finland also reported four Russian military planes violating its airspace last month, in another incident which has clouded relations between it and Russia.
Finland's long-running and famed policy of non-alignment finally came to an end with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine starting February 2022, and the country joined NATO in May last year.
A joint Finnish-Russian nuclear power plant project was canned by the Finns a few weeks after the invasion, and Finland has now closed its eastern border until further notice.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
