Estonia said NATO Baltic Air Policing fighter jets shot down a drone over southern Estonia on Tuesday, marking the first time the country has downed an unmanned aerial vehicle in its airspace.
– Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said the drone entered Estonian airspace before being destroyed over Lake Võrtsjärv in southern Estonia.
– “For the first time, we shot down a drone ourselves,” Pevkur told Estonian outlet Delfi.
– According to Pevkur, the drone was likely of Ukrainian origin and appeared to be heading toward targets inside Russia.
– Estonian authorities said the Air Force and security police are investigating the incident.
– Earlier on Tuesday, Estonia’s Defense Forces issued an EE-ALARM (Estonia’s national public warning system) about a possible air threat across several southern regions, including Tartu, Jõgeva, Viljandi, Valga, Võru and Põlva counties.
– Residents were advised to remain alert and call emergency services if they spotted a drone.
– The warning was lifted less than an hour later.
– Flight-tracking data also showed that Swedish Air Force aircraft entered Estonian airspace during the incident.
– The drone alert came as Russia reported a wave of drone attacks targeting its northwestern regions. Drones attacked a major oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region early Tuesday, with officials confirming a hit on an industrial site and no casualties.
– At the same time, Russian Orthodox clergy in Perm conducted prayer processions after a series of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes on oil infrastructure, including refineries and pumping stations. Russian authorities reported widespread drone activity overnight.
– Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, causing a fire at the facility, according to a post on Telegram.
– The refinery is one of Russia’s largest, processing around 17 million tons of oil annually and producing fuel used by the Russian military, including gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.
– Ukrainian forces also struck the Yaroslavl-3 oil pumping station near the settlement of Semibratovo in Russia’s Yaroslavl region.
– Neighboring Latvia also issued a possible airspace threat warning on Tuesday after military sensors detected what officials believe may have been a drone entering Latvian airspace.
– The warning covered several municipalities in the Latgale and Vidzeme regions, including Kraslava, Preili, Ludza, Rezekne, Madona, Cesis, Smiltene and Gulbene.
– Colonel Maris Tutins of Latvia’s National Armed Forces told Latvian Radio that authorities believed a single drone was involved and that it was located near the Preili region. NATO Baltic Air Policing fighter jets were activated during the incident, as reported by Latvian media outlet LSM.
– Rail traffic in affected regions was temporarily suspended while the alert remained active.
– Latvian authorities noted that similar incidents could continue as long as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.
– Earlier this month, several drones entered Latvian airspace, including one that crashed near an oil storage facility in Rezekne. Following this, in March, a Ukrainian drone involved in a coordinated strike operation against Russian targets also reportedly crashed in Latvia’s Kraslava region.
– Prior to this, on Sunday, the National Armed Forces of Latvia issued an emergency air threat warning across multiple border regions following the detection of an unidentified drone crossing over from Russia.
– In response to the incursion, military command reinforced air defense assets on the eastern frontier and scrambled NATO fighter jets to monitor the target. Border residents were instructed to follow the “two-walls” safety protocol and lock down their homes.
– On May 7, a major diplomatic row erupted after two stray, explosive-laden drones entered Latvian airspace from Russia, with one impacting and detonating against an industrial fuel depot in Rēzekne, roughly 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from the border.
– While Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds noted those specific platforms were likely Ukrainian long-range strike drones that strayed off-course, Riga lodged a fierce protest with the Russian Embassy, underscoring that Moscow’s aggression manufactures systemic security risks for the entire continent.
– The incident in Latvia matches a broader pattern of escalating airspace friction gripping northern and central Europe as deep-theater strikes inside Russia multiply.
– Just 48 hours prior, on Friday, Finland was forced to temporarily freeze all air traffic and shut down its primary international transit hub, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, after a suspected long-range drone breached Finnish territory, heading directly toward the high-capacity Neste oil refinery in Porvoo.
– Concurrently, Poland scrambled its own tactical fighter jet wings and activated ground radar grids on Wednesday, as a preventive measure to block incoming low-altitude Russian cruise paths from straying over its southeastern border during a massive 139-UAV bombardment against Ukraine.
– With both the Russian military and Ukrainian deep-strike commands deploying thousands of automated systems weekly, Baltic states – led by Latvia and Lithuania – are continuing to lobby the broader NATO alliance to move away from passive air policing toward permanent, fully armed anti-missile and anti-drone deployments along the eastern frontier.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/76449