airspace incident: Gulf of Finland, south of the island of Utö (2026-08-21)

What happened

Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said that in the afternoon a Russian Il-20M aircraft violated Finnish airspace over the Gulf of Finland, south of the island of Utö. The aircraft remained over Finnish territory for about three minutes, coming as close as roughly 4.7 nautical miles to the coast; the Russian ambassador was summoned over the incident.

The word "Russian" in this description comes from the source's account of where the object was made or what type it is. It is not a finding about who sent it or on whose orders. This record carries no assessment of responsibility: see the attribution band below.

Responsibility and limits of the evidence

not assessed

Nobody has yet assessed responsibility for this record. Not assessed is not the same as not established.

Impact

killed

not established

injured

not established

damage

not established

Sources

1. Naruszenia przestrzeni powietrznej nieobjętej działaniami wojennymi podczas wojny rosyjsko-ukraińskiej

   pl.wikipedia.org / secondary source

   supports: the record