Italian F-35 fighters attached to Nato’s air defence support mission in the Baltic states were scrambled to intercept the Russian jets and warn them off, Estonian and Italian officials said.
“Three Russian fighter MiG-31 entered Estonian airspace in the Vaindloo Island area without permission, and remained there for approximately 12 minutes,” the Estonian defence forces said.
“The fighter jets did not have flight plans, and their transponders were switched off. At the time of the airspace violation, the fighter jets did not have two-way radio communication with Estonian air traffic control.”
Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said: “This is yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and Nato’s ability to respond.”
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, accused Moscow of an “extremely dangerous provocation” and warned that the sortie “further escalates tensions in the region”.
“As threats escalate, so too will our pressure,” said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who earlier in the day had presented for EU member state approval a 19th package of sanctions targeting Moscow over the Ukraine war.
The alleged incursion came at a moment of heightened tension on Nato’s eastern border, after Poland last week complained that around 20 Russian drones overflew its territory.
Moscow denied Poland was targeted. (AFP)
