Intruding drone shot down by NATO fighter jet in Estonia; alert over
A drone that entered Estonian airspace was shot down over Lake Võrtsjärv, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said. The Estonian Defence Forces issued an air threat alert for southern Estonia Tuesday afternoon and ended it at 12:45 p.m.
Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told ERR that a drone entered Estonian airspace and has been shot down.
"We received advance information from our Latvian colleagues, and our radar also detected a drone moving into southern Estonia. We activated the necessary measures, and a Baltic Air Policing fighter jet shot the drone down," Pevkur said.
According to the minister, the exact details are still being recorded, but contact occurred somewhere over Lake Võrtsjärv. "The location where the debris fell is also being identified and is expected to be on land rather than in the lake."
There is no information about civilian damage at the moment, but various Estonian agencies are on their way to the site and will clarify the situation once they arrive, Pevkur added.
No other unauthorized drones seen
"The drone incident is over for now," Pevkur said. "Our data does not show any other unauthorized drones in Estonian airspace. At the same time, the Kevadtorm (Spring Storm) military exercise is ongoing in southern Estonia, where many drones are in use. So if people see drones, they should keep that in mind. However, if there is any doubt, people should definitely report it."
People in Tartu County, Võru County and Jõgeva County notified ERR news about receiving the air alert warning, with several individuals in Tallinn also getting the alert.
According to the notification, the drone threat applies to Tartu County, Jõgeva County, Viljandi County, Valga County, Võru County and Põlva County.
At 12:55 p.m., the Defense Forces announced in a message that the air threat was over.
Also in Latvia, The National Armed Forces issued a airspace threat warning on Tuesday, covering Preiļi, Rēzekne, Ludza and Krāslava municipalities. A cell broadcasting alert was sent to residents of these municipalities, according to LSM.lv.
Air attack hits St. Petersburg region in Russia
Russia's northwestern region was hit by repeated drone attacks late Tuesday morning, as indicated by closures at airports in Pskov and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo.
Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, said at around 11 a.m. local time that temporary restrictions on arrivals and departures had been imposed at Pulkovo Airport for the second time. The agency said the measures were necessary to ensure flight safety, according to St. Petersburg outlet Fontanka.ru.
The restrictions were first introduced at around 9:45 a.m. They were lifted about 10:10 a.m., but the airport was soon closed again.
Shortly before that, Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, issued a drone alert. At 11:48 a.m., Drozdenko said on social media that Russian air defense forces had shot down two unmanned aerial vehicles over the Leningrad region.
Earlier, at around 4 a.m., the Interfax news agency reported that restrictions had been imposed at Pskov Airport, which temporarily suspended both arrivals and departures.
Suspensions of airport operations in Russia typically accompany drone attacks carried out by Ukraine in the area.
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Mait Ots, Argo Ideon
