Ukrainian drones hit Russian missile corvette Naro-Fominsk in Gulf of Finland, ship reportedly heads to St Petersburg

In brief

• Ukraine's SBU says drones attacked the Russian missile ship Naro-Fominsk near Gogland island in the Gulf of Finland early Wednesday.
• Finnish and Estonian officials confirmed an explosion, but the damage and casualties remain unconfirmed.
• Helsinki temporarily restricted maritime and airspace use in the eastern gulf as a precaution.

The strike

Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said it launched drones at a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland at around 5:30 on Wednesday morning, close to the island of Gogland, roughly 40 kilometres from the Finnish coast (Украина нанесла удар по российскому ракетному кораблю у острова Гогланд в Финском заливе ... – yle.fi). The SBU announced the operation on Telegram and said the target was the small missile ship Naro-Fominsk, a Bujan-M class vessel of the Baltic Fleet (Ukrajinci zasiahli ruskú vojnovú loď, útočili vo Fínskom zálive – HNonline.sk).

Confirmation from Helsinki and Tallinn

Finnish officials told public broadcaster Yle that they registered a strike on Wednesday morning. Finland's defence forces later confirmed to Reuters that they had detected an attack on a Russian warship in the gulf and were monitoring developments, though they declined to say where or when it happened or how it was detected (Cios w rosyjski okręt na Bałtyku. Fińskie wojsko potwierdza – Wirtualna Polska) (Russian warship hit by Ukrainian drone in Gulf of Finland – BBC News). Estonia's defence minister, Martin Herem, told Estonian broadcaster ERR that an explosion had occurred on board and that the vessel then sailed towards St Petersburg.

What is still unclear

No casualties or the scale of damage have been confirmed by officials. Estonian media reported that the ship returned to St Petersburg, but this has not been verified (Финские военные сообщили об обнаружении удара по российскому военному кораблю в Финском заливе – repost.news). Russian and Ukrainian-linked channels have given differing accounts of where the ship was heading, including Kronstadt, and have reported deaths and injuries without independent confirmation (Украинские беспилотники подбили российский малый ракетный корабль в Финском заливе – The Insider). Russian-language outlets labelled as propaganda-linked repeated the same core claims, with no additional verified detail from Finnish or Estonian sources (Армия Финляндии зафиксировала «удар» по российскому военному кораблю в Финском заливе – The Insider).

Context

The same night, Ukraine hit the Ust-Luga oil export port in Leningrad region, one of Russia's largest oil export hubs (Atak na rosyjski okręt na Bałtyku. Ukraina twierdzi, że uderzyła dronami – Rzeczpospolita). Finland's military temporarily restricted maritime and airspace use in the eastern part of the gulf as a precaution. Finnish officials stressed that there is no direct military threat to the country and that shipping in the area remains safe. Defence officials reportedly warned Kyiv that the gulf is a narrow waterway used by oil tankers, civilian ships and subsea data cables.

Read also

• Drone Attack Sets Fire at Ust-Luga Port in Russia's Leningrad Region