Russian warship hit in Gulf of Finland; Ukraine's SBU says drones were used

An explosion occurred on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland on 11 November 2026. Estonian defence minister Martin Herem confirmed the blast, which he said happened at around 5.30am local time near the island of Gogland. Smoke was seen above the vessel, which headed towards St Petersburg. Herem said Estonia cannot establish whether the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian attack or an accident.

What happened

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said drones carried out the strike as part of a wider operation against Russian military and port infrastructure in the Leningrad region. According to the SBU, the target was the Baltic Fleet missile corvette Naro-Fominsk, a Bujan-M class ship capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles. One of the targets was also reportedly the port of Ust-Luga, an important Russian oil export point.

The Finnish military said on Thursday that it had recorded an attack on a Russian vessel in the Baltic Sea the day before. A military spokesperson told Reuters that Finland is not under direct military threat. According to the BBC, as quoted by TVN24, this may be the first time Ukrainian drones have struck a Russian vessel in Baltic waters open to civilian shipping. This could not be confirmed independently in another source.

Restrictions and warnings in the region

Finnish armed forces introduced temporary restrictions on maritime traffic and airspace in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia issued a series of drone threat alerts, urging residents to seek shelter. The governor of the Leningrad region, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said 150 drones had been shot down over the region overnight. Figures given by the parties to the conflict often differ.

What is still unknown

There is no independent confirmation of the extent of the damage to the ship. Finnish authorities initially did not give details of the location or course of the incident, and did not confirm whether anyone had been injured.