Col. Uku Arold, head of strategic communications at the Defense Forces Headquarters, said the night of March 30-31 was the fourth night a huge Ukrainian drone attack had taken place in northwestern Russia against Russia's military and war-supporting infrastructure.

An air alert had already been in effect in Russia since Monday evening.

"As a result of this situation, several drones also drifted into Estonian territory during the night, without anyone asking Estonia for permission," Arold said. After last week's drone incursion, Russia has tried to promote the narrative that Estonia and the Baltics allow Ukrainian jets to use their airspace for attacks.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning, Estonia tracked drones that entered its airspace and monitored the situation with allies.

The EDF sent three emergency alerts to residents when a potential threat began to materialize. The first alert was sent before drones entered Estonian airspace.

The drones entered Estonian airspace several times, and the threat ended at around 6 a.m.

Arold stressed that emergency alerts are only issued when the threat is real – when the lives and health of people in Estonia are at stake.

Allied jets ready to shoot down drones

The number of drones identified or presumed to have been over Estonian territory remains under 10.

The drones only came from the south and east directions. In the counties listed in the alerts, the drones were either already present or about to enter, Arold said. "In the end, only Lääne County and the islands remained outside the elevated risk area," he added.

Some drones moved in straight lines over Estonia, while others did not.

Allied fighter jets identified drones flying in the sky and were ready to shoot them down.

"Allied fighter jets identified and in some cases saw the drones, and the option to engage was there. However, there are always two considerations. Expediency — whether it will leave on its own — and safety, because we live in peacetime. If there is a risk that a missile or drone debris could fall somewhere where people might be hit, or that it could end up on the territory of another country, then the shot is not taken," Arold said.

The risk areas were determined based on where there was a real likelihood of drone movement.

"We have no evidence that anyone deliberately flew into Rapla County or Pärnu County. Drones are affected by various means, which means they do not do what they are supposed to do — destroy the Russian war machine — and may end up very far from their target, figuratively speaking, becoming confused," Arold said.

Three crash sites

Veiko Kommusaar, deputy director general of the Police and Border Guard Board for border guard matters, said the chain of events began around 9:30 p.m. on Monday.

Monitoring systems detected unusually high activity in border areas, and personnel were readied.

On Tuesday morning, the agency is investigating three locations as potential drone crash sites. Debris has been found at one of them in Kastre Municipality in Tartu County.

Over the course of 24 hours, the agency received 49 reports, which it is verifying.

Air defense

Estonia is developing a layered air defense system, but Arold stressed that an unpenetrable dome has not yet been invented.

"Things even get through Israel's multi-layered defense shield," he said.

"Estonia is establishing an air defense brigade. Layered air defense means that from multiple directions, over prioritized objects, it is possible to influence targets with different types of means using surveillance, targeting and firing systems. Even the full build-out of the air defense brigade does not mean there will be a 'sky dome' over Estonia. It will protect certain areas against attacks of a certain intensity," Arold outlined.

The Defense Forces personnel will carry out various duties on Tuesday and Arold asked that people not share information about their movements on social media.

He also urged people not to share information about crashed drones on social media, but instead to report any suspicions to the emergency center.

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