TALLINN, Estonia (AP) 鈥 Russian pilots ignored signals from Italian jets responding from NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission when they violated Estonian airspace, a senior Estonian military official said Saturday.
The was the latest test of the alliance’s ability to respond to Russian airborne threats after around on Sept. 10.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry on Saturday denied its aircraft flew into Estonia鈥檚 airspace, .
Estonian officials dismissed the denial, saying the violation was confirmed by radar and visual contact and suggested it could be a tactic to draw Western resources away from Ukraine.
The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace between 9:58 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. local time Friday in the area of Vaindloo, a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said. A ministry statement said it was the fourth airspace violation by Russia this year.
It still 鈥渘eeds to be confirmed,鈥 if the border violation was deliberate or not, Col. Ants Kiviselg, the commander of Estonia鈥檚 Military Intelligence Center, told The Associated Press. Regardless, he said, the Russian jets “must have known that they are in (Estonian) airspace.鈥
The Russian pilots didn’t pose a 鈥渕ilitary threat,鈥 Kiviselg said.
But although they acknowledged communication from the Italian pilots flying F-35 fighter jets, they apparently ignored it and 鈥渄idn鈥檛 actually follow the signs,鈥 which is partly why they were in Estonian airspace for so long, he added.
鈥淲hy they didn鈥檛 do it, that鈥檚 a question for the Russian pilots,鈥 Kiviselg said.
鈥業t could be big trouble鈥
The Russian jets came from an airfield near the city of Petrozavodsk, in northwestern Russia, and were heading to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. They were tracked by two Finnish fighter jets before being escorted by the two Italian jets, which took off from Estonia’s 脛mari Air Base and followed them into international skies, Kiviselg said.
U.S. President Donald Trump responded Friday by telling reporters he will be briefed by aides on the incursion. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 love it,鈥 he said, adding: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I鈥檒l let you know later.鈥
Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s foreign minister, told AP the incident was 鈥渁 very serious violation of NATO airspace.鈥 The last time Estonian airspace was violated for so long was in 2003, he said, 鈥渏ust before Estonia joined NATO.鈥
Estonia鈥檚 government responded by saying it would request consultations under 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 mission to boost defenses along it鈥檚 eastern flank.
Posting on X, Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovil臈 艩akalien臈 suggested NATO member 鈥淭urkey set an example鈥 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.
But that situation was 鈥渢otally different,鈥 Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s defense minister said, adding that the “Russians actually killed Turks,鈥 when Moscow used fighter jets to
During Friday鈥檚 incident, Estonia and its allies observed the Russian jets鈥 route, communication and reaction from the pilots as well as the weapons systems they were carrying and were 鈥渧ery confident that there is no need to shoot them down,鈥 Pevkur said.
Czech President Petr Pavel said Saturday that NATO must respond adequately to Russian violations, including potentially by shooting down Russian jets, the Czech News Agency reported. 鈥淩ussia will realize very quickly that they have made a mistake and crossed the acceptable boundaries. Unfortunately, this is teetering on the edge of conflict, but giving in to evil is simply not an option,鈥 Pavel said.
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 is waging a including a sabotage campaign, cyberattacks and influence operations.
Radars and visual identification
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.
It said the three MiG-31 jets 鈥渃ompleted a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in the Kaliningrad region” and “did not violate the borders of other states.鈥
Pevkur dismissed the statement, saying Estonia and its NATO allies have 鈥渕ultiple鈥 radars and visual identification which confirm the Russian jets entered the country’s airspace.
He suggested the 鈥渞oot cause鈥 for the air violations, hybrid war and cyberattacks was to distract Western attention from Ukraine.
Moscow, Pevkur said, may be trying to provoke NATO nations into sending additional air defense assets to Estonia in the hope that Kyiv’s allies do more 鈥渁bout our own defense,” and less to support Kyiv.
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Associated Press journalist Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.
