Estonia Shoots Down Ukrainian Drone for First Time

(MENAFN) Estonia has intercepted and destroyed an alleged Ukrainian drone over its own soil for the first time, the NATO and EU member state's defense minister Hanno Pevkur confirmed Tuesday — a dramatic escalation in the growing crisis over Ukrainian UAVs drifting into Baltic airspace during strikes on northwestern Russia.

"This is the first time we have shot down a drone ourselves," Pevkur told outlet Delfi, confirming the downed aircraft had been deployed by Kyiv to strike targets on Russian territory.

In a separate interview with a news outlet, Pevkur revealed that the Estonian military had received advance warning of the incoming drone from neighboring Latvia. "We activated the necessary measures, and a Baltic Air Policing fighter jet shot the drone down" over Lake Vortsjarv in the country's southern region, he explained. Baltic Air Policing is the NATO mission tasked with defending the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Pevkur said no injuries or damage had yet been reported, and that Estonian agencies were en route to the debris site.

The incident fits a pattern that has rapidly unsettled the region. Over recent weeks, Ukrainian UAVs targeting energy infrastructure in Russia's Leningrad Region have repeatedly strayed into Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland — putting NATO member states in an increasingly uncomfortable position.

Moscow has issued pointed warnings in response, arguing that if it is established that the Baltic states and Finland "deliberately provide their airspace" to Kyiv's drones, Russia reserves the right to invoke self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to what it characterizes as an "armed attack."

The fallout extended to Russia's second-largest city. On Tuesday, temporary flight restrictions were imposed at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg due to drone incursions in the area.

Pevkur had previously called on Kyiv to rein in its UAV operations. "The easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to control their activities better," he said earlier this month, adding that Tallinn "will start dealing with this very quickly now."

Separately, Moscow's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) alleged Tuesday that Latvia had granted Ukraine permission to use its territory as a launchpad for potential drone attacks against Russia — a claim Riga has not publicly addressed. The SVR warned that "the coordinates of decision-making centers on Latvian territory are well known, and the country's NATO membership will not protect the accomplices of terrorists from just retribution."

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