Finland confirms hit on Russian corvette as Ukraine claims drone strike

The incident in the Gulf of Finland

Finland's military said it registered a hit on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland, the eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, and told Reuters it had detected the strike on Wednesday. Helsinki has not said who was behind it. Estonian Defence Minister Martin Herem told the Estonian broadcaster ERR that an explosion occurred aboard a Russian Baltic Fleet vessel at around 5:30 local time. Herem said smoke rose from the ship afterwards and that it sailed on toward St Petersburg under its own power.

Herem said Estonia cannot confirm whether the blast came from an attack or an accident, and that the extent of any damage is unknown. Yle, citing security sources, placed the explosion near Gogland, known in Finnish as Suursaari, an island in the eastern Gulf about 40 kilometres south of the Finnish coast and 110 kilometres from Helsinki.

Who Ukraine says was hit

Ukraine's SBU security service says its drones struck the Naro-Fominsk, a Baltic Fleet corvette that it classes as a Buyan-M, in what it called a special operation. Two Russian military bloggers cited by the independent investigative outlet iStories also report a hit, but they place the ship in the Karakurt class instead. The ship can carry Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles and entered Baltic Fleet service in 2023. Blick, citing Bild, says Kalibr missiles have a range of up to 2,500 kilometres. Russia's defence ministry has not confirmed the attack, according to Nastojaschtscheje Wremja, the Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A wider drone operation

The SBU said the strike was part of a larger drone operation against oil and port facilities at Ust-Luga, a Russian port near St Petersburg in the Leningrad region. The regional governor confirmed a drone attack there, Blick reported. The Kyiv Independent, as cited by Blick, reports that the warship was also hit at Ust-Luga. Finland's Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said the country is investigating a drone's violation of its airspace during Ukrainian attacks in the area, including on Ust-Luga. Herem said Ukrainian drones briefly entered Estonian airspace during the night attacks. Finnish armed forces have imposed temporary restrictions on air and sea traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland as a precaution to protect public safety.

Unconfirmed reports and open questions

The Telegram channel Sloi Morjatschok reported dead and injured aboard the ship, but no official casualty figures have been published. Blick notes it is unclear where the drones were launched. If they came from Ukraine, they would have had to cross NATO territory or travel about 1,000 kilometres through Russia. Estonia has not established the extent of the damage, and the investigation into the airspace violation is still under way.