Russian-made spy drone washes up on Finnish shore near Porvoo

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Wednesday that Finland faces no direct threat after a drone was found on a shoreline in the Pellinki archipelago near Porvoo, even as Finnish authorities said the device now appears to be Russian-made.

A resident discovered the drone on September 1 on the shore of an island in the archipelago, roughly a two-hour drive east of Helsinki. The Finnish Border Guard identified it as a Geoscan 701, a fixed-wing aircraft built by the Russian company Geoscan for aerial surveying and mapping. The Border Guard confirmed the device carried no explosives.

“We are not worried, we need to be calm,” Stubb said, adding that authorities were still investigating the drone and would release more information once confirmed.

Finland’s Ministry of Defence said it is investigating the incident as a possible violation of Finnish territory, with the Border Guard and police working to determine the drone’s origin and how it reached the shoreline. Two officials told Finnish broadcaster Yle they now believe the drone is Russian, a shift from authorities’ initial description of it only as a surveying aircraft that posed no danger.

The Geoscan 701 is a civilian fixed-wing drone designed for aerial photography and mapping. It launches from a catapult, lands by parachute, and can fly for up to 10 hours and cover as much as 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) on a single flight, according to the manufacturer. The aircraft has a maximum takeoff weight of 22 kilograms (49 pounds) and a wingspan of about 3.3 meters (11 feet). Geoscan markets the drone for civilian survey work, including projects in Siberia, the Russian Arctic and Antarctica.

Stubb said the discovery fits into what he called a “new normal” Finland must prepare for, and warned that hybrid attacks, including sabotage, cyberattacks and information warfare, are likely to increase. He said Russia’s aim is to make Europeans afraid.

Finland has reported a string of drone incidents through 2026, most involving stray Ukrainian drones that drifted off course during Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure along the Gulf of Finland. In late March, Finnish officials confirmed drones that landed near Kouvola came from Ukraine, and an F/A-18 Hornet was scrambled to identify one aircraft as a Ukrainian AN-196 drone. A separate drone crossed into Finnish airspace near Virolahti in May. Not every incident has been tied to Ukraine, however; the Pellinki find is the latest case where Finnish authorities have pointed to a Russian origin instead.

Finland has moved to build up its counter-drone defenses over the past year. In December, the Finnish Armed Forces confirmed they had purchased hundreds of SkyWiper Omni Max jamming devices from Lithuanian manufacturer NT Service, intended to block drone control and navigation signals around critical infrastructure such as military bases.

Finnish authorities have not said when the investigation into the Pellinki drone will conclude or whether they can determine how it reached Finnish territory.