Finland cyber attacked and Russian aircraft enters airspace as Zelensky addresses parliament

Finland‘s government websites have been hacked at the same time as Volodymyr Zelensky gave a speech to their parliament today, just hours after Finnish lawmakers launched a new push for the country to join NATO.

The main government website and the ministries for defence and foreign affairs were hit by denial of service attacks intended to make the sites unavailable to regular users.  

Earlier, Finland’s ministry of defence reported a violation of Finnish airspace by a Russian state aircraft, an an IL-96-300, for three minutes off the country’s southern coast. 

To add to the growing tensions between the border countries, Finland expelled two Russian diplomats and discontinued the visa of a third today in protest against the Ukraine invasion. 

The security breaches came as Zelensky told Finnish lawmakers to impose ‘Molotov cocktail’ sanctions on Russia, invoking the incendiary devices popularised by the Finns in their war against the Soviet Union in WWII.

He added in the videolink address: ‘The war of Russia against Ukraine is decisive not only for the future of our country and our nation, but all those who have a common border with Russia. Just like you 83 years ago, Ukraine has the bravery to defend itself.’ 

Hours earlier, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said Finland is just weeks away from submitting an application to join NATO despite Russian warnings that it would secure ‘the destruction of their country’. 

The Nordic country, which has a long border with Russia and was invaded by the Red Army in the Winter War of 1939, has never been a member of the Cold War defence alliance, preferring to organise its own protection.

But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, opinion polls commissioned by Finnish media outlets have shown a swift U-turn in public opinion with the majority now favouring joining.

Finland has opted to remain neutral since WWII, choosing to act as a buffer between East and West when Europe was carved up during the Cold War, affording it more flexibility in its foreign policy while allaying Russian fears of Western expansion.   

Alexander Stubb, who headed Finland’s government in 2014 and 2015, said the country could decide to join the military alliance as soon as May. 

He said: ‘In the beginning of the war I said that Putin’s aggression will drive Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership. 

‘I said it was not a matter of days or weeks, but months. Time to revise: Finland will apply within weeks, latest May. Sweden to follow, or at the same time.’ 

Russian lawmaker Vladimir Dzhabarov said this week that it is not likely ‘the Finns themselves will sign a card for the destruction of their country’, threatening a repeat of the Ukraine invasion which was sparked in part by its desire to join NATO.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added yesterday if Finland and Sweden joined NATO then Russia would have to ‘rebalance the situation’ with its own measures in another thinly-veiled warning.  

Polling shows there is a majority of support in Finland for joining the alliance, rising 34 points in months to a 62 per cent popularity. 

Nordic military expert Carl Bergqvist said: ‘Finland emerged from World War II with two experiences. First, that the country was ill-positioned to receive any outside help in the event of war, and that it therefore would always be dependent on its own capabilities to defend its interests and independence. 

‘Second, that it would have to carefully balance its own interests with the interests of the Soviet Union/Russia owing to their long land border.’

The prospect of Finland and Sweden joining NATO was part of the discussion between foreign ministers from the military alliance in Brussels this week.

‘Obviously this is going to be those countries’ choices to make,’ said the official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity.

‘The alliance’s open door remains open and there was discussion about that potential candidacy,’ the official said. 

Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters earlier that Finland will clarify next steps in the coming weeks regarding a possible decision to seek NATO membership. 

Senator Dzhabarov from Russia’s upper house said Finland joining the pact would be ‘a terrible tragedy.

He said: ‘If the leadership of Finland goes for it, it will be a strategic mistake.

‘Finland, which has been successfully developing all these years thanks to close trade and economic ties with Russia, would become a target. 

‘I think it [would be] a terrible tragedy for the entire Finnish people.’

The senator added that it is not likely ‘the Finns themselves will sign a card for the destruction of their country’.

Member countries have estimated it would take from four months to one year to approve the application. 

Prime Minister Sanna Marin said earlier this week: ‘Both joining (NATO) and not joining are choices that have consequences.

‘We need to assess both the short-term and long-term effects. At the same time, we must keep in mind our goal: ensuring the security of Finland and Finns in all situations.’

Marin added that Finland’s relationship with neighbouring Russia has changed irreversibly after the assault on Ukraine, and ‘it takes a lot of time and work for confidence to be restored’.

Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member.

It has remained militarily non-aligned, therefore not engaging in war or conflict, since the end of the Cold War for fear of provoking Moscow. 

Haavisto previously said Russia’s actions in Ukraine have ‘totally changed the security landscape in Finland’.

He told Kyodo News that Finland must be prepared for ‘more negative military scenarios’.  

Last month a Russian politician warned of ‘serious military and political consequences’ if Finland and Sweden joined the alliance. 

Russian Foreign Ministry Second European Department Director Sergei Belyayev told Interfax: ‘It is obvious that Finland and Sweden’s joining NATO, which is a military organization in the first place, would have serious military and political consequences requiring use to revise the entire range of relations with these countries and take retaliatory measures.’ 

Last month Finland also detected interference with passenger jets’ GPS signals near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave and the country’s eastern border with Moscow. 

Finnish airline Finnair said its pilots had noticed the disturbances near Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea’s east coast.

Other aircraft reported unusual disturbances in GPS signals near Finland’s eastern border with Russia, with planes unable to land at Savonlinna airport due to the interference. 

In February Helsinki also received letters from Russia, demanding clarity on the Nordic nation’s future regarding security. 

Haavisto then told The Times the instance ‘reminded (him) of the Cold War’, when the country was used to ‘this kind of Russian letter asking for ‘consultations’.

Until now, nothing was able to persuade Finland or Sweden to join NATO, throughout the Cold War from 1947 to 1989, and in the decades since. 

But in March it appeared that Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine increased public support in Finland for joining the NATO alliance to record levels, according to a poll.

A total of 62 per cent of respondents in Finland had supported their government applying for NATO membership.

According to the survey which was commissioned by Finland’s public broadcaster Yle, this is up from 53 percent in the same poll which had been released two weeks ago.

Later that month another poll from newspaper Helsingin Sanomat also suggested a majority of the nation is in favour of joining NATO, with 54 per cent responding they would back the decision.

In neighbouring Sweden, a similar recent poll showed those in favour of NATO membership outnumber those against.  

Vladimir Putin has used NATO’s eastward expansion as one of several justifications for his brutal war, and has demanded Ukraine pursues neutrality as a condition to withdraw.

Meanwhile, NATO countries have repeatedly refused requests from Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky to directly aid his country’s fight against Moscow’s invading forces out of fear of being dragged into a wider conflict with Russia.