Estonia pledges immediate strikes on Russian targets breaching its airspace

Estonia is prepared to shoot down Russian targets that cross its airspace, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

Speaking at a joint conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, he noted that the NATO protocol on this matter has been in place for 20 years, Caliber.Az reports via RBC-Ukraine.

When asked by journalists whether Estonia is prepared to shoot down Russian targets appearing near its border, Tsahkna responded that such action would be taken if necessary.

“A very easy answer, as President Trump says. We will intercept and shoot them down. NATO is ready to defend its territory from the first second, from the first push," the Minister emphasised.

Tsahkna recalled an earlier incident when Russian aircraft violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes and NATO jets were already in place, prepared to act if they had detected a direct threat to Estonia’s sovereignty and independence.

"This was not the first time Russia had tested our capabilities, and NATO's Central European mission was reinforced as soon as Poland's airspace was violated. In this way, we are increasing coordination throughout our region and strengthening our capabilities,” he said.

In September, Russian strike drones violated the airspace of several NATO member states, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and France. In some cases, these incursions forced the temporary suspension of operations at civilian airports.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, many of the drones were launched from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.

Around the same period, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets also entered Estonian airspace, flying close to Tallinn.

The Estonian Armed Forces further reported that a Russian Mi-8 helicopter had breached Estonia’s airspace as well.

By Jeyhun Aghazada