Finland and Estonia to protect gulf with missiles as balance of power tilts towards Nato and away from Russia

Coastal defence deal likely to spark anger in Moscow as it has potential to sever Russia’s link with its naval fleet in the Baltic Sea

Relatives of Anton Savytskyi cry by his coffin during his funeral service yesterday in Bucha, Ukraine. Picture by Alexey Furman

James Kilner
© Telegraph Media Group Limited

Estonia and Finland plan to sign a coastal missile deal which they say would give them control of the Gulf of Finland, potentially severing Moscow’s link with its fleet in the Baltic Sea.

The deal would rely on Estonia’s new Israeli-Singaporean-built Blue Spear surface-to-sea missiles, which have a range of 290km. Defence analysts have described them as “subsonic air breathing, sea-skimming” missiles that are at the cutting edge of coastal defence warfare.