NATO jet shoots down Ukrainian drone over Estonia in escalation of airspace violations

VIENNA — A NATO air policing jet has shot down what authorities suspect was a Ukrainian drone flying over Estonia, a first after several similar airspace incursions in the Baltic states.

The drone was shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet stationed in Šiauliai, Lithuania, Estonian media reported from a press conference by the defense ministry in Tallinn. Estonian radars had detected the threat before it entered the country’s airspace, according to the Estonian minister of defense, Hanno Pevkur.

The shootdown has been confirmed by several high-ranking Estonian government officials.

The drone fell into a swampy area between Lake Võrtsjärv and Põltsamaa just before 13:00 local time.

Around two hours after the incident, Ukraine issued a public apology , with Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi saying that “we apologize to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents.”

Estonia’s air force commander, Brig. Gen. Riivo Valge, was cited as saying that a residual threat to the Baltic states remained, adding that “it may happen that we may have a repeat of the situation today.”

The wreckage of the drone shot down today has not yet been recovered, and Estonian authorities warned residents not to touch any debris. The civil alert associated with the airspace incursion has been lifted.

The shoot-down comes just hours after Russia had used martial language to threaten Latvia, with the SVR − Russia’s foreign intelligence agency − claiming without evidence that Latvia was planning to allow Ukraine to use its territory to launch drones against Russia. The Moscow-based agency said that NATO membership “will not protect the accomplices of terrorists from just retribution.”

Latvia has denied any such claims, with the country’s foreign minister taking to X to state that “Russia lies again.”

Tykhyi, the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, said that “neither Estonia, nor Latvia, Lithuania, or Finland have ever allowed to use their airspace for strikes against Russia. Furthermore, Ukraine has never requested such a use.”

This year has seen several incidents of Ukrainian drones entering Baltic NATO countries’ airspaces and, in some cases, even crashing into critical infrastructure. An accidental strike on an empty Latvian oil refinery last week prompted the resignation of both the prime minister and the defense minister there. Previously , drones had hit a power plant chimney in Estonia and fallen into a lake in Lithuania.

Speculation and some tacit official acknowledgment have surfaced that Russia may be using electronic warfare measures to redirect long-range strike drones from Ukraine meant for Russian targets towards the NATO countries at the eastern end of the Baltic Sea.

“Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones into the Baltics with the use of its electronic warfare,” the Ukrainian MFA said. “And Moscow does this on purpose, together with intensified propaganda.”

Russia has exploited the drone incidents in a coordinated media campaign, sidestepping claims of EW measures to place blame on the Baltic States and Finland for allegedly “opening their airspaces” to Ukrainian drones. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in April that those countries “will face consequences.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from the Ukrainian government.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——一架北约空中警戒飞机击落了一架据信是乌克兰无人机的飞机，该无人机当时正在爱沙尼亚上空飞行。这是波罗的海国家发生多起类似空域入侵事件后的首次击落。

据爱沙尼亚媒体援引国防部在塔林举行的新闻发布会报道，一架驻扎在立陶宛希奥利艾的罗马尼亚F-16战斗机击落了一架无人机。爱沙尼亚国防部长汉诺·佩夫库尔表示，爱沙尼亚雷达在无人机进入该国领空前就探测到了这一威胁。

多名爱沙尼亚高级政府官员已证实此次击落事件。

当地时间下午 1 点前，无人机坠入了沃茨湖和波尔察马之间的一片沼泽地。

事件发生约两小时后，乌克兰发表公开道歉声明。乌克兰外交部发言人赫奥尔希·蒂赫伊表示：“我们对此类无意事件向爱沙尼亚和所有波罗的海朋友道歉。”

据报道，爱沙尼亚空军司令里沃·瓦尔格准将表示，波罗的海国家仍然面临残余威胁，并补充说“今天的情况可能会重演”。

今天被击落的无人机残骸尚未找到，爱沙尼亚当局警告居民不要触碰任何碎片。与此次空域入侵相关的民防警报已经解除。

就在俄罗斯用强硬言辞威胁拉脱维亚数小时后，这架无人机被击落。俄罗斯对外情报局（SVR）在没有任何证据的情况下声称，拉脱维亚计划允许乌克兰利用其领土向俄罗斯发射无人机。这家总部位于莫斯科的机构还表示，北约成员国身份“并不能保护恐怖分子的同伙免受应有的惩罚”。

拉脱维亚否认了任何此类说法，该国外交部长在接受 X 采访时表示“俄罗斯又在撒谎了”。

乌克兰外交部发言人蒂赫伊表示，“爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚、立陶宛和芬兰都从未允许使用其领空对俄罗斯发动袭击。此外，乌克兰也从未提出过这样的要求。”

今年已发生多起乌克兰无人机闯入波罗的海北约国家领空的事件，其中一些甚至坠毁在关键基础设施上。上周，一架乌克兰无人机意外击中拉脱维亚一座空置的炼油厂，导致该国总理和国防部长双双辞职。此前，无人机还曾击中爱沙尼亚一座发电厂的烟囱，并在立陶宛坠入湖中。

有猜测和一些官方的默许表示，俄罗斯可能正在使用电子战措施，将原本攻击俄罗斯目标的乌克兰远程攻击无人机转向波罗的海东端的北约国家。

乌克兰外交部表示：“俄罗斯继续利用电子战手段，将乌克兰无人机引导至波罗的海地区。莫斯科这样做是蓄意的，同时还加大了宣传力度。”

俄罗斯利用无人机事件发起了一场协调一致的媒体宣传活动，避开了有关电子战措施的指控，转而指责波罗的海国家和芬兰“向乌克兰无人机开放领空”。俄罗斯外交部发言人玛丽亚·扎哈罗娃在4月份表示，这些国家“将面临后果”。

编者按：本文已更新，添加了乌克兰政府的评论。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。