NATO intercepts three Russian fighter jets in Estonia and detects two in Poland

BarcelonaAmid an increasingly tense atmosphere on NATO's eastern flank, Estonia has reported that three Russian military aircraft violated its airspace on Friday, in what would be the Kremlin's third incursion on the Alliance's borders this month. Three MiG-31 fighter jets—capable of carrying the Russian Kinjal hypersonic missile—flew without permission over an Estonian island in the Gulf of Finland, about 100 kilometers from the capital, Tallinn, forcing NATO forces to intervene. "On Friday morning (...), three Russian MIG-31 fighter jets intruded without permission into Estonian airspace, in the area of Vaindloo Island, and remained in Estonian airspace for almost twelve minutes," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Hours later, Poland also said that two Russian aircraft flew at low altitude over one of its oil platforms in the Baltic Sea.

Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets, which were deployed to Estonia's Ämari air base as part of NATO's Baltic mission, "responded to the incident," the Defense Ministry said. According to Estonia, the planes had no flight plans, their transponders were not turned on, and they were not in contact with air traffic control.

While incursions over Vaindloo Island by Russian aircraft are fairly common, they do not tend to last as long as this one. Furthermore, the incident comes just a week after Russia sent Russian drones to Poland and Romania. This has caused Tallinn and other allies to react with indignation: "Russia has violated Estonian airspace four times this year, which is unacceptable in itself, but today's violation, in which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is an unprecedented, brazen act," the minister said, calling for increased political and economic pressure.

For his part, the NATO spokesperson stated that the Alliance responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft. "This is yet another example of Russia's indiscriminate behavior and NATO's ability to respond," he wrote. In the same vein, he condemned the incident to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen: "We will respond to every provocation with determination and invest in a stronger eastern flank. As the threats grow, so will our pressure," he said.

Poland reported earlier this month that 20 Russian drones had crossed its border overnight between December 9 and 10, some of which were heading for the strategic hub of Rzeszów. Polish forces, supported by NATO allies, shot down several drones and subsequently invoked NATO's Article 4, which requires the alliance to hold consultations.

Separately, Russian drones have also transgressed Romanian airspace on several occasions. The most recent incident occurred in mid-September, when Romania tracked a suspected Russian drone in its airspace for nearly 50 minutes.