Helsinki Warns Ukraine Against Expanding War Into Gulf Of Finland After Russian Warship Struck

In a rare moment of the Ukraine war spilling far outside its boundaries into the north, Finland’s military on Thursday alerted the world that its military detected a rare strike on a Russian navy vessel in the Baltic Sea.

A spokesperson for the Finnish armed forces told Reuters they “detected… a strike on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland area and has monitored the development of the situation,” but also noted somewhat ominously that Finland is not under “any immediate military threat.”

No other information was given to the mysterious alert, such as precise strike location and from where it originated, or exactly when it happeneed. Also, there’s no information on casualties or damage. 

Reuters has, however, noted that there’s been an uptick in drone activity over the Baltic Sea region:

Estonia, ⁠Latvia and Lithuania early on Wednesday issued warnings to citizens to take shelter due to drones in their airspace, and NATO scrambled warplanes ⁠in ​response.

The Gulf of Finland is a narrow ​arm of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia that extends eastwards to St ​Petersburg.

While there’s been a ratcheting Black Sea war involving tit-for-tat attacks on both Russian and Ukrainian vessels, such a crisis has yet to come to Baltic Sea waters, which would mean northern Europe.

The Gulf of Finland remains a vital export outlet for Russian oil and grain - which could explain why it might be targeted in long-range Ukrainian drones strikes.

Al Jazeera fills in another detail as follows: “Estonian media reported that the vessel was a small Russian navy ship that later returned to St Petersburg,” it writes Thursday.

Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen has confirmed that Helsinki raised the issue of the provocative and dangerous new strike with the Zelensky government.

“We have told the Ukrainians this time, and a little earlier too, how sensitive this narrow stretch of the Gulf of Finland, right between us and Estonia, is in terms of environmental safety and the safety of civilian shipping,” he said as cited in Finnish broadcaster Yle.

He said it is urgently important that things don’t escalate in the narrow waterway, as for now “You can still cruise with peace of mind.”