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Finland fires warning shots at suspected submarine in Baltic

Tuesday, 28 April 2015 6:18 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 28 April 2015 6:19 PM ]

The AFP photo shows boats of the Finnish border guard patrolling the waters off the coast near Helsinki on April 28, 2015.

Finland says its navy has fired warning shots at a suspected foreign submarine within the country’s territorial waters, off the coast of Helsinki.

“During surveillance of (Finland’s) territorial integrity, the navy detected a possible underwater object at midday (0900 GMT) on April 27, 2015, within Finland’s territorial waters close to the border outside Helsinki,” the Finnish Defense Ministry said in its statement.

The ministry added that “a warning was given” in the early hours of the day after a second sighting was made.

“We strongly suspect that there has been underwater activity that does not belong there. Of course it is always serious if our territorial waters have been violated,” Finland’s Defense Minister Carl Haglund said.

Further sightings were not reported following the warning shots.

This has not been the first case of sighting suspicious underwater objects in the Baltic Sea.

Last October, Sweden attempted to track down a foreign submarine in its waters, thought by many to have belonged to Russia.

Last month, Russia announced a military drill in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, the Arctic and the Far East, involving nearly 76,000 troops, over 10,000 vehicles, 65 warships, 16 support vessels and 15 submarines as well as 200 warplanes and helicopters.

Russia has blasted NATO for its eastward expansion calling it a direct threat to Moscow. NATO has conducted numerous exercises and plans to expand its military presence in Eastern Europe amid a crisis in Ukraine, which Western powers have accused Russia of instigating.

SZH/MKA/SS

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