NATO fighter jets have shot down a drone after it entered Estonian airspace, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Tuesday.
He added that the aircraft is believed to have been a Ukrainian drone that was presumably targeting Russian positions. There were initially no reports of injuries or damage. Pevkur described the incident as the first of its kind.
Romanian F-16 fighter jets reportedly brought down the drone over Lake Võrtsjärv in southern Estonia.
Debris was later found near a field at Kablaküla in the municipality of Põltsamaa. The search and the investigation led by the security police were still ongoing. There were initially no reports of injuries or damage.
Estonian Brigadier General Riivo Valge said the drone was tracked and destroyed by the first missile fired at it.
Estonia, a member of both NATO and the EU, borders Russia to the east. Earlier, the Estonian armed forces had warned of a potential threat in the southern part of the Baltic state.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna wrote Tuesday on that the "allies' professionalism and rapid action show clearly that [the] NATO collective defence works. Allies stand ready to protect every inch of NATO territory."
In neighbouring Latvia, authorities also issued alerts in several regions near the Russian border after a drone was believed to have entered Latvian airspace. It was initially unclear whether it was the same aircraft later shot down over Estonia.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry apologized to the Baltic states for what it called “unintended incidents,” suggesting the drones may have been diverted by Russian electronic jamming systems.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do not operate their own fighter jets. Since 2004, NATO has protected Baltic airspace through a rotating air policing mission involving allied aircraft and personnel stationed in the region.
