Europe
Finland contacts Ukraine after the strike on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland, about 40 km from its coast
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen says Helsinki has told Kyiv the narrow stretch between Finland and Estonia is environmentally and navigationally sensitive. He avoided criticising Ukraine and said the Baltic is safe.
Finland has contacted Ukraine after the Ukrainian strike on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland, about 40 kilometres off the Finnish coast. Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen announced it on Friday, November 13, speaking to public broadcaster Yle and to reporters in Helsinki. Helsinki asked Kyiv to take into account that the narrow passage between Finland and Estonia is a sensitive area for the environment and for civilian shipping. The strike took place in the early hours of Wednesday, November 11, near the Russian island of Gogland, which the Finns call Suursaari.
“We told the Ukrainians this time, but also a little earlier, how sensitive this narrow part of the Gulf of Finland is, right between us and Estonia, from the point of view of environmental security and the security of civilian shipping,” Häkkänen told Yle. In remarks reported by Bloomberg, the Finnish minister described the incident as a strike in international waters, in an area extremely sensitive because of the environment and the volume of civilian traffic. “We are explaining to them that they must take this into account,” he said. According to Bloomberg, it is the first time a warship has been hit in the busy Gulf of Finland.
Häkkänen nevertheless avoided turning against Kyiv. He recalled that the effects on the surrounding area stem from Ukraine’s defensive struggle and from Russia’s war of aggression. He assured that Finland and NATO have “sufficient systems” to detect attacks and protect their territory. He considers the Baltic safe, including for cruise passengers, even for a pre-Christmas party cruise. “You can keep taking cruises with a calm mind,” he said.
What is known about the strike
Finland’s Defence Forces confirmed to Yle on Thursday, November 12 that Ukraine hit a Russian warship. In a written statement to Reuters, a spokesman said Finland faces no immediate military threat, but declined to specify where and when exactly the strike took place or how it was detected. The strike came after intense drone activity over the gulf, and one drone reportedly violated Finnish airspace. The same night Ukraine also hit the Russian oil port of Ust-Luga, at the eastern end of the gulf.
On the Ukrainian side, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed responsibility on November 11, saying it planned and carried out the strike on the small missile ship Naro-Fominsk of the Buyan-M class (Project 21631), which carries Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles. We covered the details of the operation and the first reactions from Tallinn and Helsinki in our report on the Naro-Fominsk strike. Russia’s Defence Ministry has issued no statement on damage to the ship or crew casualties.
Peskov on the Bild report
On Friday the Kremlin commented on Finland on another subject, after German daily Bild reported a Russian proposal involving Finland’s exit from NATO (our report). Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied, speaking to reporters (Interfax), that Moscow made such a demand in talks on a new security architecture in Europe. “I am not aware of anything like that. No, it was not raised. It was certainly not discussed,” he said. The tension in the Baltic was also visible in the nights of alerts in Lithuania and Latvia.
