Russian fighter jets breach Estonian airspace
Three Russian fighter jets breached Estonian airspace on Friday, according to Estonian officials, the latest encounter to test NATO’s eastern borders as alarmed European leaders scramble to boost defense measures there.
The MiG-31 jets - supersonic long-range interceptor aircraft capable of carrying hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles - entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland, according to the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The jets remained in the airspace for 12 minutes, according to two European officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. One official said Italian F-35s soon pushed the fighters out.
“Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. “Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”
Later on Friday, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michel said his government requested NATO Article 4 consultations - formal discussions a member state initiates when it feels its territorial integrity or security is under threat.
Russia’s chargé d’affaires has been summoned in protest, according to foreign ministry officials. Estonia, along with other Baltic states who joined the European Union in 2004, has long sounded the alarm about the threat of Russian aggression but was largely brushed aside by NATO powers.
The Baltics and Poland emerged as one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and repeatedly called for the provision of more and faster military assistance. Kaja Kallas, former Estonian prime minister and current vice president of the European Commission, called the incident “an extremely dangerous provocation.”
“This marks the third such violation of EU airspace in days and further escalates tensions in the region,” she said on X.
The episode follows last week’s dramatic incursion of 19 Russian drones into Polish airspace. NATO forces shot down at least three of them, and Poland invoked Article 4 in response. European officials and experts saw that incursion as a brazen test by Russian President Vladimir Putin of NATO’s defense of its members’ territory.
Days later, Romania - also a NATO member - said a Russian drone had invaded its airspace, as well. In response to the incident in Poland, NATO announced a new initiative called Eastern Sentry to bolster defenses of the U.S.-led alliance’s entire eastern edge.
On Thursday, European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said he plans to convene talks with defense ministers next week on creating a “drone wall” along the E.U.’s eastern border.
NATO’s defense strategies, long centered on countering jets, are being reassessed as costly air-defense systems struggle against the smaller, cheaper drones that have become a hallmark of the war in Ukraine.
The incursion comes on the heels of the U.S. Defense Department’s plans to halt longtime security assistance programs for Europe, including an initiative to fortify the continent’s eastern flank against a potential attack by Russia, reported by The Washington Post in early September.
The Pentagon told European counterparts in August that it would defund a long-running security aid program to the Baltic nations, cutting more than $200 million meant to fortify their defenses each year. The move alarmed some European allies as a sign that the Trump administration was deprioritizing a relatively low-cost program that would help defend NATO’s most vulnerable members.
The incidents also followed the announcement Friday of new European Union sanctions against Russia, the bloc’s 19th such package. If approved by member states, the sanctions would end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by 2027, target companies and cryptocurrency platforms that do business with Russia, and further crack down on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of ships evading a ban on Russian oil.