NATO confirmed on Tuesday that one of its F16 jets from the Lithuania-based Baltic Air Policing Mission had shot down a drone in Estonian airspace.
Both Estonia and Latvia issued air alerts reporting a drone in their airspace. It was not immediately clear whether they were referring to the same or different aircraft.
What happened?
The Estonian military said a drone entered its airspace at noon local time (0900 GMT/UTC) on Tuesday, having entered the country’s southeast from Russia.
It was shot down at 12:14 local time by a missile fired by a Romanian NATO fighter jet on a training flight.
“The incident occurred under conditions of heavy electronic warfare, including GPS spoofing and jamming by Russia,” the Army said.
The army said it was monitoring the drone before it entered its airspace and the decision to shoot it down was taken to “minimize the impact on civilian population and infrastructure”.
NATO later confirmed it had shot down a drone in Estonian airspace, adding that the investigation was ongoing and that NATO was “ready and able to react to any potential aerial threat.”
Why are drones crashing frequently in the Baltic NATO member states recently?
Tuesday’s incident was the latest in a series of airspace violations over the region in recent weeks, amid increasing attacks on Russian sites in the Baltic, not least attacks on major oil facilities in Primorsk and Ust-Luga.
The flight path from Ukraine to these locations runs close to the borders of NATO members on the Baltic Sea such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland – and drone defense systems could interfere with the navigation of the planes.
The Baltic countries have largely blamed Russia in their public reactions and said Ukraine has a legitimate reason to attack sites in Russia as part of its defensive war.
“These incidents are a direct result of Russia’s belligerence and provocations. Estonia is strengthening cooperation with Ukraine to enhance our air defense and anti-drone capabilities,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in an online post.
Nevertheless, recent incursions have begun to have a political impact.
The issue rose to prominence in Latvia this month, when a coalition government collapsed amid internal debate. On the country’s position on dealing with stray drones landing on its territory.
Prime Minister Ivica Ćilena dismissed his Defense Minister and soon had to resign himself after losing coalition partners and therefore his majority.
In Finland on 15 May, warnings of drone activity caused disruption at Helsinki International Airport and other areas near the coastal capital.
Latvia stops trains in border area, Ukraine says Russia deliberately diverted drone
An air alert in Latvia caused disruption to trains and schools in areas near the border with Russia on Tuesday.
It is unclear whether the alert was a result of the same drone that was shot down in Estonian airspace.
Both Latvia and Estonia again said they did not allow Ukraine to attack Russian targets through their territory and airspace, a point Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also stressed on Tuesday.
Ministry spokesman Heorhi Tikhayi apologized to Estonia “for such unexpected incidents” and said that Russia “continues to redirect Ukrainian drones to the Baltics” in coordination with “intense propaganda” as part of a deliberate strategy.
“We reiterate that – contrary to Russian propaganda claims – neither Estonia, nor Latvia, nor Lithuania [or] Finland has been given permission to use its airspace for strikes against Russia. Moreover, Ukraine has never requested such use,” Tikhi said.
Edited by: Louis Olofse