Finland watched a Russian warship being hit 40km off its coast, and Ukraine says its drones did it

A Russian warship was hit in the Gulf of Finland early on Wednesday 11 November, Finland’s military says, in what Ukraine calls a deliberate strike on a missile-carrying corvette within sight of NATO waters.

The Finnish Defence Forces said in an emailed statement that they had detected “a strike on a Russian warship” and had been monitoring the situation. A spokesperson said there was no immediate military threat to Finland and the Baltic security situation remained stable. The military did not say how the strike was detected or what caused it.

Where did it happen?

Finnish surveillance placed the explosion in international waters about 40 kilometres off the coast near Kotka, close to the Russian-held island of Gogland, according to Finnish officials. Brigadier General Markku Viitasaari, Finland’s director of national defence, said sensors recorded flashes and smoke from the vessel, and that Finland at first suspected the ship was firing at drones before data showed at least one explosion on board. He said the warship had been protecting vessels linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers.

Estonia’s Defence Minister Martin Herem said the blast happened at about 5.30am local time (11.30am AWST), smoke rose from the ship afterwards, and it left under its own power for St Petersburg. Estonia has not independently established who was responsible.

What does Ukraine say?

Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, says it planned and carried out the attack on the Naro-Fominsk, a 74-metre Buyan-M class corvette of Russia’s Baltic Fleet commissioned in December 2023. Ships of that class can carry Kalibr cruise missiles, the weapon Russia has fired at Ukrainian cities throughout the war. The SBU has not said what weapon it used and has not published evidence of damage.

The SBU linked the strike to an overnight drone operation against Ust-Luga, a major Russian port and oil-processing hub near St Petersburg. Ukraine’s military says five oil-product tanks were damaged and a large fire broke out. Russian authorities acknowledged drone attacks in the region, and Russia says it intercepted at least 146 Ukrainian drones over the Leningrad region in recent days.

Why does it matter beyond Russia and Ukraine?

Because of where it happened. The Gulf of Finland is a narrow arm of the Baltic between Finland and Estonia, both NATO members, with Russia’s second city at its eastern end. On Wednesday Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania told citizens to take shelter because of drones in their airspace, and NATO scrambled warplanes. Finland detected a suspected unauthorised drone over the eastern gulf shortly after 2am that day; it stayed in Finnish airspace for about five minutes and was not intercepted. Finland has since brought in temporary aviation and maritime restrictions.

For a war that has been fought mostly over land and the Black Sea, a strike in the Baltic brings the fighting to the edge of the alliance that Australia’s partners in Europe rely on.

What is happening on the diplomatic track?

The strike came as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, then flew to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Casement Aerodrome, a military base west of Dublin, that evening. Zelensky said he had been told the next prisoner exchange would be “the biggest exchange of war prisoners yet” and that Europe would take part in the next round of talks. Kushner said Putin was “willing to give it a try” on European participation. No date or place for the next round has been announced.