A Russian Navy research vessel is suspected of violating Finnish territorial waters

The ministry did not release further details about the incident, but the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported, based on information from border officials, that the suspected vessel is the Russian Navy’s hydrographic survey vessel Mikhail Kazansky.

The Russian ship, which is used for underwater topography and repair work, entered Finnish territorial waters south of the city of Hamina without permission just after noon on Friday. The violation lasted about seven minutes, the newspaper reported.

The previous confirmed territorial violation in the Scandinavian country occurred on June 10, when four Russian state planes entered Finnish airspace near the southern cities of Loviisa and Porvoo, the Defense Ministry said.

Finland, a NATO member state, shares a 1,340-kilometre land border with Russia and forms the external border of the European Union in the north.