Finland Says Russian Ship Sailed Into Its Waters in Territorial Breach

Finland said a Russian ship is suspected of a territorial violation in the eastern Gulf of Finland, the latest in a string of border breaches by Moscow.

The suspected breach of the Nordic nation’s waters occurred Friday afternoon and is under investigation by the Border Guard, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry. No details were given on the vessel.


Territorial violations can be part of a toolkit — known as hybrid warfare — intended to put pressure on governments and scare citizens.


Generally falling short of conventional attacks that could trigger NATO’s collective response, various hybrid attacks have grown in frequency since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in early 2022. In Finland, the previous incident took place in June, when four Russian state aircraft entered the nation’s airspace.


Finland, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April 2023, has also seen multiple commercial aircraft prevented from landing at small airports due to interference with the global positioning system. Its 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, which makes up half of NATO’s eastern flank, has been closed to all road traffic since late last year, after Russia began transporting migrants to the border to put pressure on Helsinki.


The government has responded by beefing up its already strong military, passing legislation that allows the border guards to push back migrants under exceptional circumstances and bans property purchases if national security is considered to be at risk.

Finland Says Russian Ship Sailed Into Its Waters in Territorial Breach

NATO will take the opportunity to conduct multi national force training in buffer states all along the border. It’s not unusual for NATO troops to exercise interoperability in the far north, the Baltics, the central region and on the southern flank.

Unless Trump is re-elected of course. It’s still a useful tool for Harris to expand one of her weak areas of experience in foreign affairs. It links up nicely with western influence in the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and down to the Indian Ocean.
Having said all that, force deployment is more about control of cyber issues and air power reach than ‘boots on the ground’ these days.