Russia’s military just pulled off a shocking stunt, sending three fighter jets deep into Estonia’s skies for 12 minutes without a shred of permission. Estonian leaders are calling it an “unprecedentedly brazen” move.
This isn’t some isolated glitch. It happened hot on the heels of over 20 Russian drones buzzing into Polish airspace just over a week ago, on September 9-10. NATO scrambled jets to shoot some down, but Western bigwigs admitted it was Putin probing defenses.
Adding fuel to the fire, the jets buzzed in only three days after Russia wrapped up its massive “Zapad-2025” drills with Belarus, where they even practiced launching nuclear weapons.
Tallinn’s government detailed how these MiG-31s barreled in, covering serious ground in those 12 minutes before getting chased out.
“Russia has violated Estonian airspace four times already this year, which is unacceptable in itself, but today’s violation, during which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated.
Russia’s planes often zip over the Baltic Sea to link up with Kaliningrad, but this crossed a hard line. On the same day, Poland reported two Russian jets messing with a drilling platform’s safety zone in the Baltic.
The U.S. kept mum on that Polish drone swarm and didn’t lift a finger to help fend it off, leaving allies sweating bullets.
NATO fired back quick, labeling Russia as flat-out reckless. “Earlier today, Russian jets violated Estonian airspace. NATO responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft. This is yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO’s ability to respond,” said a NATO spokesperson.
European leaders jumped in fast. “This was no accident,” stated EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas via comments that were relayed by a spokesperson.
Estonia didn’t waste time—they called in Russia’s top diplomat for a dressing-down and slapped them with a protest. Prime Minister Kristen Michal announced they’re invoking NATO’s Article 4 for emergency talks, after Italian F-35s shoved the intruders out about 5 nautical miles in.
Those F-35s are part of NATO’s “Baltic Sentry” gig, watching over the skies for Estonia and its Baltic buddies who don’t have their own air forces. “We consider it essential to consult with our Allies to ensure shared situational awareness and to agree on our next joint steps. The entire Alliance is treating this incident seriously,” Michal stated.
Tsahkna hinted at pushing for beefed-up air defenses from allies. “It was a very clear provocation. It was definitely meant like this. And that’s why we are calling the Article 4 political consultations,” he said to Reuters.
Article 4 lets any NATO member call a huddle when they feel threatened, and Estonia’s right to pull that trigger. Ukraine’s Zelenskiy chimed in, slamming it as Russia’s latest dirty trick. “Strong action is needed, both jointly and from individual countries,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated via the Telegram messaging app.
Lithuania’s defense minister piled on, demanding air defenses rushed to the edge states. “We are being tested, our citizens are being threatened almost every day now. This means that we need to have capabilities collected from our allies (to be placed) by our borders, because that’s the border of NATO,” she said to Reuters.
Russia’s UN guy, Vassily Nebenzia, played dumb when asked. “I do not trust what Estonia is saying about Russia.”
The violation hit near Vaindloo Island, about 100 kilometers from Tallinn. No flight plans, transponders off, zero radio chatter.
A U.S. official, keeping it anonymous, said: “It’s tough to see how this wasn’t intentional.” They pointed out three jets don’t just hang out in enemy airspace by mistake.
Expert Jakub M. Godzimirski from Norway’s foreign affairs institute said it might be a probe or just bad luck, but context matters. “Still, this happens in a given context, having in mind what happened with the drone incursion in Poland a few days ago,” Godzimirski stated.
Estonia’s been a rock for Ukraine, and back in May, they chased off a Russian jet trying to block a sanctions-busting oil tanker.
