A Romanian jet training with NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission has downed the drone over Estonia, with Ukraine apologizing shortly thereafter.
Three NATO countries joined forces to shoot down a Ukrainian drone flying over European Union territory on Tuesday.
The government in Kyiv says the Ukrainian drones are electronically hijacked by Russia and sent into Europe, have violated the Baltic states’ airspace in recent weeks, even leading to the collapse of the Latvian government.
Estonian Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, wrote on X that “the downing of a drone that entered Estonian airspace proves one thing clearly: NATO works.”
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, NATO commander Alexus Grynkewich said that the shootdown was “exactly how our defense design is supposed to work.”
The Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman apologized for the incursion on X, writing: “Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones into the Baltics with the use of its electronic warfare.” The Estonian military also wrote that the drone incursion “occurred under the conditions of heavy electronic warfare, including GPS spoofing and jamming, by Russia.”
Tuesday’s drone entered Estonian airspace at noon, the Estonian Defense Forces wrote on X. Soon after, a Romanian F-16 training with NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission downed the drone with an air-to-air missile, under the leadership of the Latvian Control and Reporting Center.
Earlier this month, a Ukrainian drone crashed into an oil depot in Latvia, leading to the resignation of Latvia’s defense minister Andris Sprūds and then to the collapse of the Latvian government. Tuesday’s shootdown appears to be the first time a drone has been downed in Estonia.
The drone incursion comes as Russia’s defense ministry announced that it had intercepted more than 70 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday. A large wave of drone attacks by Ukraine, which has been fighting against a Russian invasion since early 2022, killed several in Moscow on Monday.
