Suspected Ukrainian drones violated Finnish territory near Kouvola

On the morning of Sunday 29 March 2026 two uncrewed aerial vehicles crossed into Finnish territory and crashed near the city of Kouvola in southeastern Finland, roughly 70 km from the Russian border. According to Finnish public broadcaster Yle, the Finnish Air Force tracked and identified one of the objects at about 08:45 local time as a Ukrainian AN-196 (Liutyi) long-range attack drone. An F/A-18 Hornet pilot shadowed the drone but did not open fire, in order to avoid collateral damage, and the UAV came down on its own north of Kouvola. A second drone fell east of the city.

Yahoo News (Reuters) reported that, in a preliminary assessment, Finnish police found the drone north of Kouvola to be carrying an unexploded warhead; it was destroyed in a controlled detonation. The Finnish Police (poliisi.fi) stated that the UAVs were suspected to be of Ukrainian origin and warned that further strays could come down, particularly in the Kymenlaakso and South Karelia regions.

Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen called it a suspected territorial violation, and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described the drones as likely Ukrainian. Ukraine acknowledged the incident: as reported by Euronews, foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said no Ukrainian drones had been directed at Finland and that the most likely cause was interference from Russian electronic-warfare systems. The Finnish Border Guard opened a territorial-violation investigation and the National Bureau of Investigation a parallel probe into negligent endangerment.

Ukrainian origin is well supported: the Finnish Air Force identified one drone as an AN-196, Finnish leaders called the UAVs likely Ukrainian, and Kyiv acknowledged the event and apologised. Intent toward Finland is assessed as absent. Ukraine attributes the deviation to Russian electronic-warfare interference, an explanation Finnish officials consider plausible but which remains assessed rather than forensically proven. The case fits the 2026 Baltic spillover pattern of strayed Ukrainian drones, alongside crashes in Latvia and Lithuania days earlier. Investigations by the Border Guard and National Bureau of Investigation continue, and this entry may change as further public information emerges.