A Romanian F-16 jet operating as part of NATO's air policing mission in the Baltics shot down what authorities believe was a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia on Tuesday, according to officials. Ukraine has apologised for what it described as an "unintended incident," while Russia has warned of retaliation if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic nations.
Incident Details
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that given the drone's trajectory, the decision was made to intercept it. "Most probably, today we can say that it was a drone which was meant to hit some Russian targets," he told the Associated Press. This incident is the latest in a series where Ukrainian drones targeting Russia have entered or landed in NATO territory, with Western officials attributing this to likely Russian electronic jamming of the weapons.
Escalating Drone Warfare
These occurrences coincide with Ukraine's intensified drone campaign, focusing on energy infrastructure and arms factories deep within Russia, as its domestic technology and production capabilities improve. On Sunday, Russian authorities reported that one of the largest Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least four people, including three near Moscow, and wounded a dozen others. Long-range drone attacks have become a hallmark of the conflict, which began over four years ago with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomatic Responses
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said experts from Ukraine and Estonia are working on measures to prevent future incidents. "Ukraine apologises to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents," Tykhyi posted on X. Pevkur noted that Estonia has consistently advised Ukraine to ensure drone trajectories avoid NATO territory as much as possible.
Tensions in the Baltics
The strikes have caused friction within the Baltic states, which support Ukraine's war effort, and with Russia. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that Ukraine is preparing to launch drone attacks from Baltic territory and warned of retaliation, stating that NATO membership would not protect Latvia from "just retribution." Last week, Latvia's government collapsed after the defense minister resigned over handling multiple stray drone incidents, suspected to be from Ukraine.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs dismissed Russia's claims, posting on X that "Russia is lying about Latvia allowing any country to use Latvian airspace and territory to launch attacks against Russia." Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna reaffirmed that Estonia has not permitted its airspace to be used for attacks on Russia, blaming the incidents on Russian jamming activities.
