Stray Ukrainian drone that fell in Finland had a warhead, police say

By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI, March 30 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone that crashed in Finland on Sunday carried an unexploded warhead according to a preliminary assessment, Finnish police said on Monday.

Ukraine said it had apologised for the incident, and that the drone fired in its war with its and Finland's neighbour Russia had gone astray, most likely because of electronic interference from Moscow.

There were no reported injuries or damage from the crash in Finland's southeast, the first time the Russia-Ukraine war has spilled onto its soil.

POLICE INVESTIGATING SECOND DRONE

Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian ​oil refineries and export routes over recent weeks, some close to the border with Finland, in an attempt to weaken Moscow's ​war economy.

"The UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that came down north of Kouvola was found, in a preliminary assessment by the authorities, to have an unexploded warhead attached," Finnish police said in a statement.

It was identified as a Ukrainian AN196 drone, with a wingspan of 6.7 metres (22 feet), and was destroyed in controlled detonation.

Debris from a second drone, also thought to be Ukrainian, was found in the municipality of Luumaki, east of the town of Kouvola, and officers were investigating whether it detonated when it crashed, police added.

"We can confirm that under no circumstances were any Ukrainian drones directed towards Finland ... We have already apologised to the Finnish side for this incident," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman said.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed the incident in a phone call on Monday.

"Alex and I see the situation in the same way. We are sharing all necessary information," Zelenskiy wrote on social media.