Russian spokesman: No violation of Finnish airspace
A Russian military aircraft did not violate Finnish airspace on Monday, according to a spokesman for Russia’s Western Military District. Earlier in the day, Finnish officials said a Russian plane made a brief unauthorized entry into Finnish airspace.
According to the Itar-Tass news agency, the spokesman, Vladimir Drobyshevsky, said that a Russian An-26 aircraft in flight over the Gulf of Finland made a course correction due to weather conditions, but did not violate Finnish airspace.
“This afternoon, a Russian An-26 aircraft was making a flight over neutral waters of the Gulf of Finland. In connection with weather conditions and the influence of a thunderstorm front, the plane changed the flight route, coordinating it with Finnish air traffic control officers and approaching the Finnish state border as close as 15 kilometers,” he said.
Drobyshevsky added that the An-26 was accompanied by a Finnish F-18 plane from Tampere Air Base during the flight along the border with Finland.