Soviet Missile Spotted Flying Over Norway
OSLO — A Soviet cruise missile flew over Norway and then turned back toward the Soviet Union, crossing Finnish airspace, the Norwegian Defense Ministry said today.
A ministry spokesman said the missile was spotted last Friday in northern Norway close to the Soviet border before it crossed over Finland.
Government sources said Norway, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, will likely protest the violation of its airspace in the strongest terms.
Defense Chief of Staff Frederick Bull-Hansen told reporters that the missile, which was tracked by Norwegian radar, probably came from a Soviet submarine in the Barents Sea but declined to say if Norway or Finland believed that Moscow was testing the two nations’ defenses.
It was not known if the missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, was armed, he added.
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