Ukraine has intelligence indicating that Russia is intentionally redirecting drones toward the Baltic states and Finland in order to stage information provocations, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday, according to Ukrinform.
His comments come after several recent drone incursions into neighboring countries, including incidents in southeastern Finland on March 29 where two drones crossed the border and crashed. Finnish authorities said at least one of the drones was of Ukrainian origin, raising concerns about airspace violations linked to the war.
Speaking alongside EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Kyiv, Sybiha said Ukrainian authorities are in constant contact with partners in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland following these incidents. He stressed that Ukraine has never deliberately sent drones toward those countries.
Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberate drone diversion
“We can state with certainty that in all these cases these were deliberate and targeted actions by Russia,” Sybiha said. “We have intelligence data showing that Russians are intentionally diverting drones toward Baltic countries to use these incidents for propaganda purposes.”
The statement builds on earlier explanations from Kyiv after the Finland incident. Ukraine had apologized and said no drones were intentionally directed toward Finnish territory, pointing instead to the likely impact of Russian electronic warfare systems disrupting navigation.
Sybiha: Russia is using the incidents for propaganda
Sybiha’s remarks go further, directly accusing Russia of deliberately manipulating drone trajectories as part of a broader information strategy aimed at undermining Ukraine and creating friction with its partners.
He said Ukraine and affected countries must jointly push back against what he described as Russian propaganda efforts. “It is Russia’s war that has created all these threats, and it is Russia that must be forced into peace,” he said.
Incidents reflect broader spillover risks from the war
The incidents highlight the growing spillover risks of the war beyond Ukraine’s borders. Western countries, particularly those on NATO’s eastern flank, have reported multiple airspace violations and drone crashes since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
They also underscore the challenges posed by electronic warfare, which has increasingly disrupted navigation systems across the region. Such interference can cause drones to lose course, creating dangerous situations even far from the front line.
Finland and the Baltic states have largely aligned with Ukraine’s assessment that Russia’s aggression is the root cause of the incidents, while continuing close coordination with Kyiv to prevent further occurrences.
