Reopens Airspace After Early Morning Shutdown

HELSINKI – Finland reopened its airspace on Friday morning after a temporary shutdown that lasted about four hours.

The Finnish Defence Forces put restrictions on aviation and maritime traffic in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland at around 4:00 am. The restrictions were lifted just after 8:00 am.

The Finnish Defence Forces said the shutdown was a precautionary measure. Its goal was "to ensure the safety of civilians and the operational capabilities of authorities to counter potential drones".

The restrictions came as Ukraine launched drone attacks on Russia's St. Petersburg region overnight. These attacks caused a fire at the Ust-Luga oil port on the Baltic Sea. Russia said it shot down more than 50 Ukrainian drones in the area.

No drones entered Finnish territory during the shutdown.

Related Incident in Latvia

Earlier on Friday, authorities in Latvia said NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace. Latvia also closed part of its airspace near the borders with Russia and Belarus.

Finland has closed parts of its airspace several times in recent months because of concerns about drones from the war straying into Finnish territory.