Estonia warns that Russian aircraft have violated its airspace, forcing NATO intervention.

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 into the Alliance's borders this month. Three MiG-31 fighter jets—heavy interceptors capable of carrying the Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile—are reported to have flown over an Estonian island in the Gulf of Finland without permission for a total of 12 minutes, about 100 kilometers from the capital, Tallinn, forcing Alliance forces to respond. "On Friday morning (...), three Russian MIG-31 fighters intruded without permission into Estonian airspace, in the area of ​​​​Vaindloo Island, and remained in Estonian airspace for almost 12 minutes," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

In response, Italian Air Force F-35 fighters, which were deployed to Estonia's Ämari air base as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission, "responded to the incident," the Defense Ministry said. However, 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 Friday's incident. Moreover, the incident comes just a week after Russia sent Russian drones to Poland and Estonia. 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 unprecedentedly brazen act," the minister said, calling for increased political and economic pressure.

For her part, the NATO spokesperson stated that the case is another example of Russia's indiscriminate behavior and NATO's capacity to respond. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen similarly condemned the incident: "We will respond to every provocation with determination and invest in a stronger eastern flank. As the threats grow, so will our pressure," she said.

Poland reported earlier this month that 20 Russian drones had crossed its border overnight between December 9 and 10, some of which were headed 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 Polish 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.