Russian helicopter allegedly violates Finnish airspace

HELSINKI, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Russian helicopter flew in Finnish airspace near Nuijamaa in southeast Finland for a few minutes on Saturday afternoon, local media reported.

"The chopper was evidently a Mi-8 variant, which has several service uses in Russia. To me, it seemed like a surveillance flight that strayed over the border," Lt. Col. Pasi Tolvanen told YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Finnish frontier officials informed the Russian border guard about the incident. And Finnish border guard has launched an investigation into the incident, he said.

The alleged violation came a few months after Finland and Russia agreed on steps to limit air violations following a spate of such incidents by Russian military aircraft -- mostly transporters -- along the southern coast where the international airspace is narrow.