Finland says suspects Russian aircraft violated airspace

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's defence ministry said on Thursday it suspected a Russian fighter jet violated Finnish airspace earlier in the day, after it scrambled jets to identify the SU-27 fighter over the Baltic Sea. "The suspected violation... continued approximately one minute, and was in Finnish airspace for about 13 kilometres at a maximum of about one kilometre depth," the ministry said in a statement. Finland has accused Russia of several breaches of its airspace since the Ukraine crisis began in 2014. In April, two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea. The Finnish border guard is investigating the latest incident, the ministry said. (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Hugh Lawson)