Finland was ready to shoot down Ukrainian drones heading toward St. Petersburg, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said.

However, the head of Finland’s defense ministry stressed that Finnish air defense forces were prepared to intercept and destroy the drones only if they violated the country’s airspace.

He noted that during the drone attack on St. Petersburg, Finnish forces were on heightened combat alert, and restrictions were introduced on air and maritime traffic in the Porvoo and Lappeenranta areas. According to Häkkänen, Finnish intelligence had learned about the planned attack in advance, which made it possible to develop an action plan in the event of a violation of the country’s airspace.

The minister did not disclose the intelligence system used, but stressed that, thanks to this data, sufficient air defense readiness was ensured overnight.

Since late March, Finnish authorities have repeatedly recorded the appearance of drones on the country’s territory, while investigation results indicated their Ukrainian origin. At the time, official Helsinki claimed that the drones had flown into Finland because of a navigation error allegedly caused by the impact of Russian electronic warfare systems.