Stray Ukrainian drone in Estonia shot down by Nato fighter jet

Several stray Ukrainian drones have entered the airspace of Nato

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A Nato military jet shot down a drone of apparent Ukrainian origin over Estonia on Tuesday, the Baltic nation's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told the Delfi news website.

The incident marks the latest in a series of airspace violations in the region bordering Russia.

Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said a Romanian fighter jet shot down the drone that entered Estonian airspace was most likely a stray Ukrainian drone and confirmed it was not directed against Estonia.

Pevkur added that officials are currently conducting a search for the drone and need to ensure it poses no threat to anyone.

Pevkur told local media: "We received advance information from our Latvian colleagues, and our radar also detected a drone moving into southern Estonia.

“We activated the necessary measures, and a Baltic Air Policing fighter jet shot the drone down.

Pevkur added he spoke with Ukraine’s Defense Minister immediately after the incident to clarify Estonia has not granted permission to use its airspace for the purpose of carrying out attacks.

Nato did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Since March, several stray Ukrainian drones have entered the airspace of NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which border Russia and its ally Belarus.

Kyiv consistently said the stray drones were launched to strike military targets in Russia, but were confused by Russian interference.

Some of the drones crashed and exploded, including two drones which hit and caused fire at a Latvian oil storage facility on 7 May.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina fired her defence minister after the incident, which then led to the fall of her government on 14 May.

The Baltic states said in April that they have never allowed their territories and airspace to be used for drone attacks against targets in Russia.

The Estonian government recently hinted that it expects Ukraine to better control its drones.

"Of course, all this needs to be clarified and explained, what exactly it means, what they themselves meant by it," said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.

"I will start dealing with this immediately. Certainly, the easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to better control their activities."

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