Finnish officials have confirmed that a Russian warship was attacked in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday, raising questions about maritime security in a Baltic Sea corridor used by civilian vessels. Ukraine’s Security Service said the operation targeted the Narо-Fominsk and was linked to drone strikes on Russia’s Ust-Luga oil export facilities. The extent of damage to the ship and any casualties have not been confirmed.
Warship seen smoking as it headed toward St Petersburg
Estonian Defence Minister Martin Herem said the vessel was attacked at about 05:30 local time on Wednesday (03:30 GMT). He did not specify how the attack was carried out, but said smoke was seen aboard the ship afterward and it turned back toward St Petersburg. Finland’s military has released few details. The attack is believed to have occurred in a narrow stretch of water some distance from the Finnish coast.
Ukraine’s Security Service described the target as a Buyan-M-class small corvette armed with Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles. There have also been claims that a Russian combat helicopter was destroyed, but these have not been confirmed. Russia rarely discloses casualties or losses in such incidents, leaving the warship’s precise condition unclear.
Finland says civilian shipping was not at risk
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said the situation in the Baltic Sea remained stable and safe, and that civilian maritime traffic was not under threat. Finnish officials are also understood to have stressed to Kyiv that the Gulf of Finland is a narrow, busy waterway used by tankers and other civilian vessels, with subsea data cables running through the area. Herem said the attack was not considered to pose a direct danger to maritime traffic.
If confirmed as Ukraine’s first attack on a Russian warship in a part of the Baltic Sea open to civilian shipping, the incident would differ from repeated strikes on Russian and Ukrainian maritime targets in the Black Sea. But military analyst Emil Kastehelmi said Ukraine may have taken advantage of an operational opportunity, without that necessarily indicating a serious escalation. Kastehelmi is a co-founder of military monitoring group Black Bird.
Drone strikes reported at Ust-Luga
Herem said Ukrainian drones struck the Ust-Luga area from midnight until about 06:00. Most flew near the Estonian border but remained in Russian airspace. Several oil storage tanks at the port were believed to have been hit overnight on Wednesday, and the resulting fire was visible from Estonia. Ust-Luga is a Russian oil export facility on the Baltic coast; the reported strikes took place during the same operation as the attack on the warship.
Herem also said a drone briefly crossed from Latvia into Estonian airspace before heading toward Russia. NATO aircraft deployed in the Baltic states were airborne at the time, but he said shooting down the drone was not considered safe.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi denied on Wednesday evening that Kyiv had used Baltic states’ airspace to attack Russia, calling the allegation unfounded. He acknowledged that Russian electronic warfare could alter a drone’s course and that this could result in an unintended entry into a neighbouring country’s airspace.