On Sunday, March 29, 2026, the press service of the Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat) reported that two Ukrainian strike unmanned aerial vehicles, including one identified as an An-196 Liutyi, violated the country’s airspace and crashed on its territory.
An-196 Liutyj / Photo: the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
As we read, this morning at 8:13 a.m. local time, several slow-moving objects, assessed to be drones, approached Finland’s territorial waters.
In response, a pair of Boeing F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighters on quick reaction alert was scrambled to intercept them. As emphasized, under the current security conditions, visual observation is required to identify targets as drones. In addition, operational safety always requires securing the surrounding area during a response in order to avoid collateral damage.
The Finnish aircraft tracked the targets and identified one of them as a Ukrainian An-196 Liutyi strike drone, located south of Kouvola, in the South Finland region in the southeastern part of the country, at 8:45 a.m. The Hornet pilot did not open fire in order to avoid collateral damage. The drone crashed north of Kouvola. Police cordoned off the crash site.
Some of the objects observed during the operation were visually identified as flocks of birds. In addition, according to the latest confirmed observations, another drone crashed on land, although at the time of publication its type had not yet been identified.
Following the incident, the Air Force remains at heightened readiness to monitor and protect the airspace in cooperation with the Navy and the Army Air Defense in connection with developments in the region.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated:
“Drones have strayed into Finnish territory. We are taking the matter seriously and the security authorities have reacted immediately. The Defence Forces are investigating the incident together with other authorities.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb noted:
“This morning, drones have strayed into Finnish territory. One of the drones has been confirmed to be Ukrainian in origin.
I want to emphasize that there is no military threat to Finland.
Our authorities reacted to the situation immediately. I thank the authorities for their efficient action.
The investigation of the incident continues. We are monitoring the situation closely. The authorities maintain readiness to react to future incidents. Finland stands ready to monitor and protect its territory.”
Ohjaaja ei käyttänyt torjuntatulta oheisvahinkojen välttämiseksi. Drooni törmäsi maahan Kouvolan pohjoispuolella. Poliisi on eristänyt alueen.#ilmavoimat
— Ilmavoimat (@FinnishAirForce) March 29, 2026
Drones have strayed into Finnish territory. We are taking the matter seriously and the security authorities have reacted immediately. The Defence Forces are investigating the incident together with other authorities.
— Petteri Orpo (@PetteriOrpo) March 29, 2026
This morning, drones have strayed into Finnish territory. One of the drones has been confirmed to be Ukrainian in origin.
I want to emphasize that there is no military threat to Finland.
Our authorities reacted to the situation immediately. I thank the authorities for their…
— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) March 29, 2026
The An-196 Liutyi is one of the principal long-range strike drones in service with the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, alongside systems such as the A-22, Peklo, and Palianytsia. Developed and produced by the state-owned Antonov Company of Kyiv, the unmanned aircraft has a range of about 1,200 km and is capable of carrying a 50 kg warhead. It is used to attack Russian critical infrastructure in the rear.
During the current week, Ukraine carried out strikes in Leningrad Oblast: the oil terminal in Primorsk, the Novatek Ust-Luga facility, and it also seriously damaged the armed patrol icebreaker Purga of Project 23550 Yermak, belonging to the Coast Guard of the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. However, these operations were not without violations of the airspace of neighboring countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, where Ukrainian drones also crashed.
Last night there was also another wave of attacks, which should be linked to the incursions into Finnish territory. According to official information from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and regional governors, Russian air defense shot down 203 Ukrainian drones over 20 regions of Russia, including Leningrad Oblast. The oil infrastructure of the port of Ust-Luga was attacked once again, where another fire broke out.
In addition to Leningrad Oblast, Ukrainian drones were detected over Moscow, Bryansk, Voronezh, Smolensk, Belgorod, Tver, Pskov, Kaluga, Oryol, Penza, Samara, Saratov, and Volgograd oblasts, Krasnodar Krai, and occupied Crimea. In the town of Grayvoron in Belgorod Oblast, a Ukrainian drone caused the death of one civilian, and in two other locations the warheads carried by drones detonated. An attempted strike on chemical plants in Togliatti in Samara Oblast was thwarted, and most of the drones were shot down before reaching their targets. In the morning hours, authorities also reported the downing of a further 27 Ukrainian drones, including some in the Leningrad Oblast area.
Russia also carried out a massive overnight attack on targets in Ukraine. According to information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russians launched one Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic/hypersonic missile from over Ryazan Oblast and 442 unmanned aerial vehicles, including about 300 Geran/Shahed and Italmas drones, as well as decoy drones of various types, including the Gerbera, from the directions of Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as Hvardiiske and Chauda in Crimea.
The attack was repelled by aviation, air defense missile troops, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile air defense groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As of 9:00 a.m. local time, air defense systems had shot down or forced down 380 targets. Hits by 16 drones were recorded at 7 locations, and the fall of debris from downed UAVs was recorded at 14 locations. At the time of publication, several unmanned aerial vehicles were still in the airspace.
У ніч на 29 березня (з 18:00 28 березня) противник атакував аеробалістичною ракетою “Кинджал” та 442 ударними БпЛА.
⚡️ ЗБИТО/ПОДАВЛЕНО 380 ВОРОЖИХ БПЛА.
Атака триває, в повітряному просторі декілька ворожих БпЛА. Дотримуйтесь правил безпеки!
✊ Тримаймо небо! pic.twitter.com/IUfbtEs8J3
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) March 29, 2026
