Saaremets made his remarks after criticisms over unclear communications in the several threat notifications sent Wednesday morning in the aftermath of a large-scale Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's port of Ust-Luga. Several drones strayed into Estonian airspace in the northeast of the country, and one of them hit a power station chimney in Auvere, which lies just 3 kilometers from the Russian border, at 3.43 a.m.

When the first messages started arriving to people's phones several hours later, these were unclearly worded on what the recipient was supposed to do, and were in some cases in both Russian and Estonian, as well as in English. The notifications were sent nationwide, meaning those far from the affected area in northeastern Estonia received them too.

"When such a message arrives, people should take cover until the next message clarifies whether the threat is real or something else," Saaremets told "Terevisioon" Thursday morning. The deputy chief added that on Wednesday the app notification was clarified relatively quickly despite the initial confusion.

With that in mind, Wednesday's situation was a good example of why emergency alert systems need to be tested regularly, he added.

"Emergency alerting is relatively new in Estonia — we've only been using it for a few years. We don't have real-life situations where we frequently need to activate it, so practical experience is limited. Drilling, testing, using the system, and activating it during such events is exactly how we learn, draw conclusions, and make improvements. And I am completely convinced that next time everything will go much more smoothly," Saaremets continued.

Notifications sent by app and by SMS

The EE-Alarm emergency notification system consists of different components, and messages can be sent either to a very small area or nationwide, though there is a difference between notifications sent via an app such as the Ole Valmis! platform, and those sent via regular SMS text message.

"Yesterday, from the very outset, the decision was to send it to Lääne-Viru and Ida-Viru counties. In the case of SMS messages, this worked — they were not sent nationwide. But with apps; indeed, the Estonia app sent the notification across the whole country. The Defense Forces also sent their own talking points later in the evening, noting that corrections were made afterward," Saaremets continued.

While wording like "Air danger. Take cover!" (Estonian: "Õhuoht! Varjuge!") may cause alarm to people, according to Saaremets such a tone is certainly appropriate in certain situations.

"If a real threat is flying above us and directed at us, then the message should indeed be very explicit — that people must take cover. If such a message had been necessary yesterday, sirens would likely have been activated as well, which was not done because there was no actual need. An SMS was sent instead advising people to stay alert — keep eyes and ears open; if you see something, take cover and call 112. And as the Defense Forces mentioned yesterday, the message should have been milder, and a revised one was sent afterward," said the Rescue Board representative.

The primary goal in such situations is always to remain calm and to be prepared that such messages may occur, as Estonia is located next to a country engaged in a full-scale war where real bombings are taking place, he noted, recommending people "go through some training, read materials, and understand that when we get such a message, our first goal is to grasp it," Saaremets went on.

While part of the issue is also responsibility being divided across more than one agency, Saaremets said that for the average person, whether an emergency alert comes from the Rescue Board or the Defense Forces or other responsible body is less important than it arriving in a timely manner, through the correct channels, and with a clear and accurate message.

Responsible authority depends on scenario

Who is responsible in the various scenarios is enshrined in law, Saaremets added, noting that in Wednesday's case, "that was the Defense Forces, because we were talking about stray airborne drones."

Wording of a threat alert is created on site by the authority responsible, or by a dedicated unit responsible for issuing the alert, he added. This is usually done very quickly on site before clicking send, he noted.

While the notification uses tech, there is no substitute for more than one pair of human eyes looking at a message before it is sent, he went on.

As to whether such checks were in place on Wednesday, Saaremets answered this was something the EDF would need to answer.

With regard to the language glitches, Saaremets conceded these happened; individuals can select one of three languages (Estonian, English or Russian) in which they want to receive their notifications, but in Wednesday's case "Those who had selected Russian received Estonian, and others received English or Russian, but corrections were made later," Saaremets acknowledged.

Towns in the main region affected, Ida-Viru County, are majority Russian-speaking. The Auvere power station, whose chimney was hit by one of the stray drones, lies just 3 kilometers from the border with Russia.

Ukraine launched three major waves of attack drone strikes on the Russia port of Ust-Luga, aiming to put it out of action in serving Russian shadow fleet vessels. This operation has reportedly for the time being been successful in this aim. That some drones strayed into Estonian airspace, mostly over the sea where they presented no hazard to the civilian population, may be the result of Russian countermeasures sending the drones off course.

EDF commander Lt. Gen. Andrus Merilo said the drone which hit the Auvere chimney was likely an attack or decoy variety.

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