The Armed Forces of Finland confirmed that they detected a strike on a Russian military ship in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. The incident occurred on November 11, but official confirmation from the Finnish side appeared on Thursday, November 12.
This was reported by Reuters citing a statement from the Finnish military.
A representative of the Finnish Defence Forces confirmed that surveillance assets recorded the defeat of a Russian military ship in the Gulf of Finland. After the incident, the Finnish military continued to monitor the situation.
However, the command refused to disclose additional details about the circumstances of the incident, including the exact time and method of detection of the strike.
“The Finnish Defence Forces recorded a strike on a Russian military ship in the Gulf of Finland area and monitored the development of the situation,” — said in a statement sent to Reuters.
The Finnish military department emphasized that the security situation in the Baltic Sea remains stable. There is no immediate military threat to Finland in connection with the incident.
Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine reported an attack on the Russian missile ship "Naro-Fominsk". According to the official statement of the SBU dated November 11, Ukrainian forces conducted an operation during which a small missile ship of project "Buyan-M" of the Russian Baltic Fleet was hit.
This ship is a carrier of Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles. It was launched in 2022. The Ukrainian special service did not specify the extent of damage to the vessel.
Additional information about the incident was made public by the authorities of Estonia. Defence Minister Martin Herem confirmed to public broadcaster ERR that an explosion occurred on the Russian ship, after which smoke appeared over the vessel.
According to the minister, after the explosion the Russian ship headed towards St. Petersburg on its own. However, Estonian military could not establish whether the explosion was a result of a Ukrainian attack or occurred for another reason.
The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, citing a senior official, reported that the incident was recorded near the Russian island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland.
At the time of publication, there were no official confirmations of casualties among the crew of the Russian ship. It also remained unknown how seriously the vessel was damaged and whether it retained the ability to perform combat missions.
The attack occurred on the night when Ukrainian drones were striking targets in Russia's port and oil infrastructure in Leningrad Oblast.
According to the SBU, facilities in the port of Ust-Luga were hit, including oil terminals and oil product transshipment infrastructure. The Ukrainian side reported damage to storage tanks and fires at several facilities.
Against the backdrop of these events, the authorities of Finland and the Baltic states increased surveillance of the airspace. On the night of November 11, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania warned residents of drones, and NATO scrambled fighter jets.
Finland also imposed temporary restrictions on air and maritime traffic in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.
At the same time, Finnish and Estonian authorities confirmed the fact of the incident with the Russian ship, but did not independently establish all the circumstances of the attack. The Russian side, at the time of the Reuters report, did not provide confirmed data on damage to the vessel.
