Drone crossed Estonia's border in southeast, says air force commander
One drone crossed Estonia's border in the southeast and another flew towards the eastern border city of Narva on Tuesday morning, said Air Force Commander Brigadier General Riivo Valge after potential air threat alerts were issued across the country.
The warnings were sent to residents in eight regions of Estonia between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. Turkish Air Force fighter jets stationed at Estonia's Ämari Air Base as part of NATO's rotation air defense mission were scrambled in response. The threat had passed by 5.30 a.m.
Valge told ERR's morning TV show "Terevisioon" at around 2 a.m. it became clear Ukraine was carrying out drone strikes in western Russia. Approximately a dozen drones could be seen moving close to Estonia's border.
"Unfortunately, at around 3 a.m., one of those drones headed towards Narva, and as a result we issued an alert to the population. The first thing we did was activate our air defence units on the ground, and immediately after that, fighter jets took off from Ämari," he said.
The drone did not enter Estonia's airspace and veered back towards Russia, but alerts were sent in Ida-Viru and Lääne counties.
"But about half an hour later, there was another incident involving a drone in southeastern Estonia. It also crossed the Estonian border and remained close to the border zone. However, its behaviour was unpredictable, and I would remind you that there were even more of these drones just beyond our border," Valge told the show.
The Estonian Defense Forces then issued a second alert in southern Estonia for Tartu, Jõgeva, Viljandi, Valga, Võru and Põlva counties.
"Fortunately for us, the drones did not fall in Estonia, the aircraft did not open fire, so we don't have a missile lying around somewhere either. By 5 a.m., things had become calm or quiet on the other side of the border, and we were able to lift the alert," he said.
The Air Force commander confirmed that the situation is currently calm and that people in Estonia should focus on getting their children to school.
Previous alerts have been issued when Ukrainian attack drones strayed off course, often due to GPS jamming, when attacking Russia's oil infrastructure on the Baltic coast.
Leningrad Oblast regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko said 38 drones had been destroyed over Leningrad Oblast, which borders Estonia, early on Tuesday morning and confirmed damage at the Port of Ust-Luga.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Urmet Kook
