A NATO military jet shot down what is believed to have been a stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia on Tuesday, according to Hanno Pevkur, the Baltic nation’s Defence Minister, who spoke to the Delfi news website.
This incident marks the latest in a series of airspace violations in the region bordering Russia.
Pevkur stated that a Romanian fighter jet had shot down a drone that had entered Estonian airspace which was most likely a stray Ukrainian drone, confirming it was not directed against Estonia. He added that officials are currently searching for the drone to ensure it poses no threat to anyone.
Pevkur informed local media, “We received advance information from our Latvian colleagues, and our radar also detected a drone moving into southern Estonia. We activated the necessary measures, and a Baltic Air Policing fighter jet shot the drone down.
He also spoke with Ukraine’s Defence Minister immediately after the incident to clarify that Estonia has not granted permission for the use of its airspace to carry out attacks.
NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since March, several stray Ukrainian drones have entered the airspace of NATO members Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which border Russia and its ally Belarus. Kyiv has consistently maintained that the stray drones were launched to strike military targets in Russia but were confused by Russian interference.
Some drones have crashed and exploded, including two that struck and ignited a fire at a Latvian oil storage facility on May 7. Following this incident, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina dismissed her defence minister, which ultimately led to the collapse of her government on May 14.
The Baltic states stated in April that they have never allowed their territories and airspace to be used for drone attacks against targets in Russia. The Estonian government recently hinted that it expects Ukraine to better control its drones.
“Of course, all this needs to be clarified and explained—to understand what exactly they meant by it,” said Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur.
“I will start dealing with this immediately. Certainly, the easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to exercise better control over their activities.
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