A Nato military jet shot down a drone of apparent Ukrainian origin over Estonia on Tuesday, according to the Baltic nation's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur. The incident, reported by the Delfi news website, marks the latest in a series of airspace violations in the region bordering Russia.
Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that a Romanian fighter jet intercepted and destroyed the drone, which had entered Estonian airspace. He emphasised that the drone was most likely a stray Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle and confirmed it was not directed against Estonia. Officials are currently conducting a search for the wreckage to ensure it poses no further threat.
Pevkur told 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 added that he spoke with Ukraine's Defence Minister immediately after the incident to clarify that Estonia has not granted permission for its airspace to be used for carrying 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 stated that the stray drones were launched to strike military targets in Russia but were confused by Russian interference.
Some of the drones have crashed and exploded, including two that struck and caused a fire at a Latvian oil storage facility on 7 May. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina dismissed her defence minister after that incident, which subsequently led to the fall of her government on 14 May.
The Baltic states declared in April that they have never allowed their territories or airspace to be used for drone attacks against targets in Russia. The Estonian government has recently hinted that it expects Ukraine to better control its drones. "Of course, all this needs to be clarified and explained, what exactly it means, what they themselves meant by it," said 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 better control their activities."
