Hornets wake Lappeenranta residents during heightened airspace monitoring

F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets flew over Lappeenranta for almost three hours overnight as Finland monitored its airspace, Yle reported. The Finnish Defence Forces said the flights were aimed at monitoring Finnish territory and protecting its territorial integrity.

The flights began shortly after 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Residents also reported hearing the jets over nearby Taipalsaari and Luumäki, with some saying they flew at low altitude.

The Defence Forces restricted air traffic over the eastern Gulf of Finland at the same time because of unidentified drones. Leningrad region Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Telegram that Russian air defences had shot down at least 140 drones overnight.

With airspace closed around St Petersburg and over the eastern Gulf of Finland, passenger planes were directed onto a more northerly route passing south of Lappeenranta. Nearly 30 aircraft crossed the Finnish-Russian border near the city overnight, including mostly passenger flights between China and Europe that would normally fly over Siberia and then continue from St Petersburg towards the Gulf of Finland or Estonian airspace.

Two passenger planes bound for St Petersburg landed at Helsinki Airport as an alternate airport. They returned to Russia after refuelling.