{"id":436920,"date":"2025-09-19T20:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T20:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/436920\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T20:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T20:39:15","slug":"putins-chilling-plan-for-europe-revealed-after-unprecedented-estonia-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/436920\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin’s chilling plan for Europe revealed after ‘unprecedented’ Estonia incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vladimir Putin is deliberately testing NATO by invading airspace – as seen in Estonia today – as part of a strategy to destabilise Europe from within, says an expert\"RussianRussian MiG-31 fighter jets like those that invaded Estonian airspace (file image)(Image: RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE\/HANDOUT\/EPA\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Russia is trying to “sow fear” with fighter jets violating Estonian airspace<\/a> and hoping to destabilise Europe from within, says an expert.<\/p>\n

Estonia summoned a senior Russian diplomat to protest the incursion of three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets that entered its airspace without clearance on Friday. And Yuriy Boyechko, chief executive of the US-based non-profit Hope For Ukraine<\/a>, said it is all part of a dangerous strategy by Vladimir Putin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see Putin escalating his provocations against NATO because he feels that, right now, he has a window of opportunity to sow fear in the hearts of European citizens so they start voting for pro-Russian politicians, and that is how he will gain control over the entire continent of Europe,” he told the Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"VladimirPutin is claimed to be using a dangerous strategy with the airspace violations(Image: POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)READ MORE: Airport horror as border patrol find ‘human remains’ in passenger’s luggage<\/a>READ MORE: Putin says successor to be conflict-scarred veteran of botched Ukraine invasion<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Russians officially started a hybrid war against NATO because there is no strong response from NATO to these acts of aggression by the Russian army.<\/p>\n

“The response of NATO has to be the same as how Turkey responded to a Russian jet violating their airspace in 2015. Turkey shot down that Russian jet after it was in Turkish airspace for five minutes. There were no more Russian jets violating Turkish airspace after the 2015 incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Russian fighter jets crossed into Estonian territory near Vaindloo Island in the Gulf of Finland today, flying without transponders or flight plans and ignoring two-way radio communications with Estonian air traffic control. Italian F-35 jets, deployed as part of NATO\u2019s Baltic Air Policing Mission, were scrambled to intercept the intruding aircraft.<\/p>\n

\"RussianPutin sent fighter jets which entered Estonian airspace (file image)(Image: RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE)<\/p>\n

Estonia\u2019s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, called the incident \u201cunprecedentedly brazen,\u201d noting that Russia<\/a> has violated Estonian airspace four times this year, but never on such a scale. Kaja Kallas, the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, who is herself Estonian, described the incursion as \u201can extremely dangerous provocation\u201d that \u201cfurther escalates tensions in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the incident was \u201canother example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO\u2019s ability to respond.\u201d While NATO fighter jets scramble hundreds of times each year to intercept aircraft \u2014 many of them Russian warplanes flying too close to member state airspace \u2014 it is far rarer for aircraft to cross the boundary itself.<\/p>\n

Dozens of NATO jets remain on round-the-clock alert across Europe to respond to unannounced military flights or civilian planes losing communication with air-traffic controllers.<\/p>\n

Major Taavi Karotamm, spokesperson for the Estonian Defence Forces, said the Russian planes flew parallel to Estonia\u2019s border from east to west and did not head towards the capital, Tallinn. Mr Tsahkna urged that Russia\u2019s \u201cincreasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ExplosionsExplosions are seen during joint Russian-Belarusian military drills this month(Image: AP)<\/p>\n

The Baltic states \u2014 Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania \u2014 along with Poland, which borders Ukraine and Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad exclave, have long been seen as potential targets should Russia ever risk an attack on NATO. All four countries are staunch supporters of Ukraine, and the repeated airspace violations heighten concerns that Moscow is probing NATO\u2019s resolve.<\/p>\n

Mr Boyechko\u2019s warnings underscore these fears. He says Putin is deliberately escalating tensions to test the alliance, aiming to weaken European democracies by spreading fear and encouraging votes for pro-Russian politicians. Analysts agree that such hybrid strategies, which combine military intimidation with political manipulation, form a central pillar of Russia\u2019s broader war aims.<\/p>\n

The Estonian incursion, which lasted 12 minutes, is the latest in a series of aggressive moves by Moscow following drone incidents over Poland and other NATO states. These incidents have rattled European governments as US-led efforts to halt the war in Ukraine continue to falter.<\/p>\n

\"RussianThe pilot of a Russian MiG-31BM fighter during the joint Russian-Belarusian military drills(Image: AP)<\/p>\n

In a separate development, Poland\u2019s Border Guard, posting on X, said: “Two Russian fighter jets performed a low pass over the Petrobaltic platform in the Baltic Sea. The platform’s safety zone was violated. The Armed Forces<\/a> of the Republic of Poland and other services were notified.”<\/p>\n

Posting on X, former Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko said urgent action was necessary. He explained: “In 2015, a Su-24M of the Russian Airspace Forces that was part of a Russian aviation group in Syria<\/a>, was shot down by a Turkish F-16 after the Russian aircraft invaded Turkish airspace.<\/p>\n

“The pilots who shot the plane down obeyed an order to shoot down all aircraft violating NATO’s airspace. Turkey is a NATO country and it is a country capable of protecting its security and territory.<\/p>\n

“After NATO’s reaction to Russian drones in Poland it was hard to expect anything else. The three MiG-31 of the Russian air force that have invaded Estonia’s airspace are the aircraft that launch Kinzhal missiles. The war against Europe is already in progress, and it will expand.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vladimir Putin is deliberately testing NATO by invading airspace – as seen in Estonia today – as part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,2821,7661,333],"class_list":{"0":"post-436920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-nato","12":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","13":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115232897252134634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}