Two unidentified drones crashed near Kouvola in southern Finland on Sunday in what the defence ministry called a "suspected territorial violation", with the prime minister saying they may have been stray Ukrainian drones."Drones have strayed into Finland's territory. We take this very seriously," Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement, adding that security authorities had been sent to the scene.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told Finnish public broadcaster Yle it "is likely that these are Ukrainian drones, but this will be investigated and then announced later."
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia.
Orpo noted that Ukraine has recently carried out attacks on Finland's neighbouring areas in Russia, and said Russian jamming of drone signals may have caused Ukrainian drones to go astray.
Hakkanen said the investigation was ongoing "and further details will be provided once the information has been verified."
According to the defence ministry, "a few low-flying slow objects were observed in Finnish airspace in the sea area and in southeastern Finland on Sunday morning."
The air force sent up an F/A-18 Hornet fighter on an identification mission, it added.
"One drone has fallen to the ground north of Kouvola and another drone east of Kouvola. The police have cordoned off the areas for further investigation," the defence ministry said.
