MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. A group of Russian military inspectors will carry out this week an observation flight over the territory of Finland within the frames of the international Open Skies Treaty, Russian Defense Ministry’s newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported.

"The observation flight over the territory of Finland will be held between August 17 and 21 from the Helsinki-Vantaa airport," the newspaper quoted Sergey Ryzhkov, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, as saying. "The maximum flight range is estimated at 1,400 kilometers [some 870 miles]."

The inspection flight will be carried out on board of an An-30B aircraft, which will be strictly following an earlier approved route. Military specialists from Finland on board of the plane will be supervising the use of the surveillance equipment and observation of the Treaty provisions.

The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 in Helsinki by 23 member-nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Open Skies’ main goals are to build transparency, render assistance in monitoring compliance with existing or future arms control agreements, broaden possibilities for preventing crises and managing crisis situations. The accord establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. Now, the treaty has more than 30 signatory states. Russia ratified the Treaty on Open Skies on May 26, 2001.

US President Donald Trump declared on May 21 that Washington was going to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, which provides for inspection flights over member countries’ territories to monitor military activities.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained later in a written statement that the decision on Washington’s withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty would enter into force in six months, starting from May 22.

The US side motivated its move by Russia’s alleged violation of the treaty. Moscow denies these accusations, stating that it keeps its commitment to the treaty and laying counterclaims.