Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) stated that the flights were a demonstration of deterrence and defense.

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Two US B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew into Finnish airspace on Sunday, the Finnish Defense Forces announced.

In addition to the long-range bombers, two KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and one KC-46 aerial refueling plane also entered Finnish airspace.

According to a Defense Forces press release, the bombers’ flight was a training mission, heading south from Norway over Lapland. According to the flight tracking website Flightradar, the tankers flew to Finland from Poland.

Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen (NCP) commented on the social media website X (formerly Twitter) about the flights. According to Häkkänen, this was a normal operation on the territory of a NATO member state.

Häkkänen stated that the flights were a demonstration of deterrence and defense.

The Defense Minister also noted that the United States is an important ally of Finland and considers the visibility of concrete action important.

Russia reacts to US planes over Barents

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced earlier that it had sent fighter jets to intercept two US strategic B-52 bombers that were crossing into its airspace over the Barents Sea on Sunday.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the US planes reversed course and departed when they detected the Russian fighters approaching. At no point did the US planes violate Russian airspace.