With Helsinki poised for the likely NATO nomination, a Russian military helicopter violated Finnish airspace on Wednesday morning. This was reported by the Finnish Ministry of Defense.
“The Mi-17 helicopter was likely to have flown four to five kilometers in Finnish airspace,” a defense spokesman said.
This is the second time in a month that Helsinki has had to report a Russian violation of its airspace. These violations come against the backdrop of tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On April 8, a civilian transport plane of the Russian army briefly flew to Finland.
Along with Sweden, Finland recently indicated that they are strongly considering NATO membership, in order to better protect against the Russians. Observers immediately indicated that the two countries might expect intimidation attempts by the Russians. This intimidation can also take the form of hostile actions that are difficult to identify, such as hacking attacks.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö is due to announce his personal stance on Finland’s candidacy for NATO membership next Thursday, but there is already strong support in Finnish society and parliament.
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