A United States Air Force B-52 bomber flew over the Gulf of Finland on Saturday evening, as shown on the aviation tracking site Flightradar24.
The plane turned back from its route before Gogland, which belongs to Russia. The island, known as Suursaari in Finnish, lies about 40 kilometres from the Finnish coast.
"Clear message" to Russia
Mika Aaltola, director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, described the bomber flight over the Gulf of Finland as "a clear message" to Russia.
In a tweet late Saturday, Aaltola noted that "the Gulf of Finland is one of Europe's most strategically important straits, [and one] where Russia has increased its activities, for instance on Suursaari. This is how de facto allies are taken care of and a counter-deterrent message is sent," he wrote.
Aaltola added that "Russia has increased its provocative activities from Alaska to the Arctic. This is counter-signalling."
On Thursday, Yle reported that Russia's activities in Gogland have increased since 2014, when Russia attacked the Crimean Peninsula.
Since the annexation of Crimea, there has been an uptick in exercises involving paratroopers and special forces on Gogland.
Control of the island has been disputed over the centuries. It was long part of the Kingdom of Sweden, which ruled Finland until 1809, and was part of Finland until World War II.
The day the Yle report came out, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö was in Washington discussing Finland's stalled Nato membership bid with President Joe Biden and other top officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and CIA Director William Burns.
Last May, several US Air Force planes flew over Finland in an apparent gesture of support, a day after Finland announced plans to join Nato.