Finnish army statements of inability to down UAVs suggest collusion with Kiev — expert

MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. The Finnish Defense Ministry's statement regarding its inability to shoot down drones over its territory may indicate agreements with Ukraine regarding access for Ukrainian drones to the republic’s airspace, Alexander Stepanov, a military analyst at the Institute of Law and National Security within the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), told TASS.

Finland’s Yle national public broadcasting company reported earlier, citing the Finnish Armed Forces, that it was currently unfeasible for the Finnish military to shoot down drones that have entered the country’s airspace due to the proximity to the Russian border. "Any independent state when its airspace is violated activates the necessary mechanisms and destroys any objects that carry warheads and that could hypothetically strike targets within the country. Therefore, these statements by the Finnish military indicate that there are tacit agreements with the Kiev regime, whereby Finland not only provides access to its territory but also, possibly, assists with navigation and the guidance of strike systems," Stepanov noted.

He pointed out that both airborne early warning reconnaissance aircraft and strategic reconnaissance drones regularly operate in Finland, and "they monitor not only the airspace but also the entire adjacent territory of northwestern Russia." "They are de facto direct accomplices in terrorist attacks against targets within the Russian Federation territory," the expert emphasized.

In his opinion, the Finnish Armed Forces have definitively admitted their lack of sovereignty in the security sphere. "If Finland lacks its own resources to control airspace and destroy socially dangerous objects, the Russian Federation can always provide appropriate assistance," Stepanov added.