Finland says it detected strike on Russian warship in Baltic

Finland's military said it detected "a strike" on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday, November 11. The disclosure came after Ukraine said it had hit one of the Russian Baltic Fleet's newest cruise-missile corvettes in a drone operation near St. Petersburg. A Finnish Defence Forces spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that Finland "has monitored the development of the situation." The spokesperson said the country faces no immediate military threat and that security in the area remains stable.reuters.com

If the strike is confirmed, it would be the first time Ukraine has hit an operational Russian warship at sea in the Baltic. It happened about 40 kilometers from Finnish territory.

Ukraine's claim and the Ust-Luga raid

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it planned and carried out an attack on the Project 21631 Buyan-M-class corvette Naro-Fominsk, according to Janes. The agency did not say what weapon it used and gave no evidence of damage. The SBU tied the strike to a wider overnight operation against port, oil-processing and transport facilities at Ust-Luga, a major Russian export hub on the Baltic. Moscow has not publicly confirmed that the warship was hit, though Russian authorities acknowledged drone attacks on Ust-Luga that caused a fire and injured three workers, Fakti.bg reported.fakti.bg+1

The Naro-Fominsk was commissioned in December 2023. It has an eight-cell launcher for Kalibr cruise missiles, UNITED24 Media reported.united24media.com

What Finland and Estonia saw

Estonian Defense Minister Martin Herem told public broadcaster ERR that an explosion occurred on board a Russian warship at about 5:30 a.m. local time, Hromadske reported. "We know that smoke came from the ship afterward. The vessel itself headed back toward St. Petersburg," Herem said. He added that Estonia could not confirm whether a Ukrainian attack or an accident caused the blast.hromadske.ua

A senior Finnish official told Yle that the attack was detected near Gogland Island, also called Suursaari. The Russian-controlled island lies about 40 kilometers south of Finland. As a precaution, Finland temporarily restricted shipping and airspace in the eastern Gulf of Finland, Hromadske reported. Finnish defense forces declined to give more detail on the timing, location or how they detected the strike, Reuters reported.reuters.com+1

A widening naval campaign

The ship's damage and any casualties remain unconfirmed. Ukrainian outlet Defense Express cited the channel Exilenova+, which claimed some crew members were killed or injured, and noted that Ukraine's earlier Baltic strikes had hit vessels under repair or construction rather than ships deployed at sea.en.defence-ua.com

The incident adds to concern in the region. Ukrainian drones sent toward Russia's Leningrad region have sometimes strayed into Finnish and Baltic airspace. Early on Wednesday, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania told citizens to take shelter, and NATO scrambled warplanes, according to Reuters.reuters.com