NATO assesses response to Ukrainian drone incident over Estonia

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, Alexus Grynkewich, said at a press conference that the alliance’s fighter jet response to a Ukrainian drone that entered Estonian airspace on May 19 demonstrated the effectiveness of NATO’s air defence system.

“Everything worked,” Grynkewich said, commenting on the interception and destruction of the drone over Estonia, The Guardian reports.

He added that the alliance is “still assessing the situation, but it looks at initial glance like everything worked.”

Grynkewich then responded to a broader question on whether NATO poses any threat to Russia.

“It’s a standard Russian trope, right? They constantly say that Nato is doing something in an offensive manner, but we all know you can read the treaty: Nato is a defensive alliance. We are not a threat to Russia, and they know we’re not a threat to Russia. If they thought we were a threat to Russia, they wouldn’t have emptied the Leningrad military district to go and invade Ukraine,” he noted

According to earlier reports, on May 19, a Ukrainian-origin drone heading toward targets on Russian territory was shot down in Estonia.

By Jeyhun Aghazada