Former Interior Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Lauri Läänemets wrote on social media that Estonia needs a "drone wall," noting that it was one of his most important initiatives while serving as interior minister.

"The pace of building the drone wall is clearly too slow, considering today's incident and the Ministry of the Interior's concept for unmanned aerial vehicles. The public wants to know from the government today how quickly the drone wall will be completed," Läänemets wrote.

"We need both surveillance systems and systems to bring down drones that do not rely solely on the Defense Forces' existing capability to down large drones, but also provide the ability to deal with smaller aircraft," he added.

"Operations Russia could carry out against Estonia using both larger and smaller drones include intelligence gathering, surveillance, the destruction or disruption of energy and communications infrastructure, the transport of weapons and explosives onto Estonian territory and even assassinations," Läänemets said.

Martin Helme, leader of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), wrote on social media that he holds the government responsible for the drone incident, arguing that it has failed to build sufficient counter-drone capability by not increasing defense spending.

"How many drones is this now that have been freely flying in our airspace? Not to mention Russian aircraft," Helme said. "Either way, we lack both monitoring and interception capability even at the Russian border!"

Former commander of the Defense Forces and current Member of the European Parliament Riho Terras of Isamaa said the situation is serious and should not be seen as an isolated incident.

"We must respond in the most professional way possible and remain in contact with our European allies. If this is indeed a deliberate attack on our energy infrastructure — something we cannot yet confirm but must seriously consider — then it is an attack against NATO and the European Union," Terras wrote.

"Our surveillance system failed us. Drones must be detected before they reach their target. In this case, it struck a power plant chimney. Our counter-drone capability is inadequate and requires urgent investment," he added.

Ilmar Raag, a member of Parempoolsed and a defense expert, wrote that the incident was likely a military accident, as Ukraine had simultaneously carried out drone strikes on the port of Ust-Luga and other targets in Leningrad Oblast.

"The final outcome of the investigation must of course be awaited. When attacks similar to those carried out by Russian drones in Ukraine occur, the first step is to jam the GPS signal. At those moments, for example, your Google Maps stops working. Drones are also affected by other electronic means, causing them to lose orientation and potentially fly who knows where," Raag noted.

"A deliberate action by the Russians cannot be completely ruled out, but in that case it would more likely be a reconnaissance flight to see how Estonians react and whether panic sets in. If there had been a real intention to destroy Auvere or other electrical infrastructure, many more drones and more powerful means would have been used," Raag said.

At the same time, Raag noted that such drones should have been shot down before hitting the chimney. "This kind of threat has been discussed for at least two to three years. Something similar is very likely to happen again, even without an actual war breaking out. It's like snow that arrives every winter," Raag said.

"Estonia has the expertise to bring down such drones, but that knowledge has not been put into practice," he added. 

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