Russian military aircraft violated Estonian airspace on Friday, ignoring signals from Italian jets on NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission, a senior Estonian military official confirmed. <\/p>\n
The 12-minute incursion represents the latest test of the alliance’s response to Russian airborne threats, following around 20 Russian drones entering Polish airspace on 10 September. <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s Defence Ministry denied the breach, but Tallinn dismissed this, citing radar and visual confirmation. Officials suggested the incident could be a tactic to divert Western resources from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace between 9.58am and 10.10am local time on Friday in the area of Vaindloo, a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea<\/a>, the Estonian military said. A ministry statement said it was the fourth airspace violation by Russia this year. <\/p>\n It still \u201cneeds to be confirmed,\u201d if the border violation was deliberate or not, Col. Ants Kiviselg, the commander of Estonia\u2019s Military Intelligence Center, told The Associated Press. Regardless, he said, the Russian jets “must have known that they are in (Estonian) airspace.\u201d<\/p>\n The Russian pilots didn’t pose a \u201cmilitary threat,\u201d Kiviselg said.<\/p>\n But although they acknowledged communication from the Italian<\/a> pilots flying F-35 fighter jets, they apparently ignored it and \u201cdidn\u2019t actually follow the signs,\u201d which is partly why they were in Estonian airspace for so long, he added. <\/p>\n \u201cWhy they didn\u2019t do it, that\u2019s a question for the Russian pilots,\u201d Kiviselg said.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n This September 19, 2025 Hand Out image released by the Swedish Airforce shows a Russian MIG-31 fighter jet flying above the Baltic sea after violating Estonian air space (HANDOUT\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Russian jets came from an airfield near the city of Petrozavodsk, in northwestern Russia, and were heading to Kaliningrad<\/a>, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea<\/a> sandwiched between Lithuania<\/a> and Poland. They were tracked by two Finnish fighter jets before being escorted by the two Italian jets which took off from Estonia’s \u00c4mari Air Base and followed them into international skies, Kiviselg said. <\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> responded by telling reporters he will be briefed by aides on the incursion. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t love it,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI don\u2019t like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I\u2019ll let you know later.\u201d<\/p>\n Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s Foreign Minister, told AP the incident was \u201ca very serious violation of NATO airspace.\u201d The last time Estonian airspace was violated for so long was in 2003, he said, \u201cjust before Estonia joined NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n Estonia\u2019s government responded by saying it would request consultations under Article 4 of NATO\u2019s treaty which allows a member to formally consult with allies whenever their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. Poland also used the mechanism after its airspace was violated by Russian drones and, after that, NATO launched its Eastern Sentry mission to boost defenses along it\u2019s eastern flank.<\/p>\n Posting on X, Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117 suggested NATO member \u201cTurkey<\/a> set an example\u201d of how to respond to such incidents in 2015 when it shot down a Russian fighter jet which violated its airspace for around 17 seconds.<\/p>\n But that situation was \u201ctotally different,\u201d Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s Minister of Defense said, adding that the “Russians actually killed Turks,\u201d when Moscow<\/a> used fighter jets to target what they said were militant groups near the Syrian border with Turkey.<\/p>\n During Friday’s incident, Estonia and its allies observed the Russian jets’ route, communication and reaction from the pilots as well as the weapons systems they were carrying and were \u201cvery confident that there is no need to shoot them down,” Pevkur said. <\/p>\n Estonian officials maintained Saturday that there was no need to trigger Article 5, NATO’s collective defense clause, despite the repeated violations by Russian jets and drones as well as allegations from Western officials that Moscow<\/a> is waging a hybrid war against the West including a sabotage campaign, cyberattacks and influence operations.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Virginia Mayo, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n In an online statement published Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its fighter jets had kept to neutral Baltic Sea waters more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Vaindloo Island.<\/p>\n It said the three MiG-31 jets \u201ccompleted a scheduled flight from Karelia<\/a> to an airfield in the Kaliningrad<\/a> region” and “did not violate the borders of other states.\u201d<\/p>\n Pevkur dismissed the statement, saying Estonia and its NATO allies have \u201cmultiple\u201d radars and visual identification which confirm the Russian jets entered the country’s airspace.<\/p>\n He suggested the \u201croot cause\u201d for the air violations, hybrid war and cyberattacks was to distract Western attention from Ukraine.<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SEI266838009.jpg\")
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