Two drones flew toward Estonia's eastern border overnight into Tuesday. According to the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF), the drone flying toward Narva turned back toward Russia and did not enter Estonian airspace. However, another drone crossed the border into Estonian airspace in the country's southeast. The Defense Forces said the drone remained close to the border zone.

Over the course of Tuesday, however, ERR received reports from several people living in the city of Põlva who said the drone that crossed the national border made it as far as Põlva. The city is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the border.

A local resident sent ERR an audio recording made at 3:48 a.m. in which a sound resembling a drone can be heard.

"I woke up at 3:48 a.m. when I received an EE-ALARM message warning of a possible drone threat. It was quiet outside. About 10 minutes after the message arrived, I began to hear a buzzing sound similar to a motor scooter," the person who made the audio recording told ERR.

"At first, I thought it was a vehicle and that the sound was coming from the highway, but it kept getting closer. Since there is a wooded area in front of the house, it couldn't have been coming from a vehicle on the ground," the person added.

The resident said they had heard that drones sound similar to motor scooters and began to feel increasingly afraid.

"The sound kept getting closer and then gradually began to fade away. A short while later, I heard the noise of a fighter jet, which could be heard repeatedly for about another hour. My 13-year-old daughter had been half-awake and recorded the sound coming from outside, which she shared with friends who had also been woken up by the noise. It was all very frightening," the resident added.

The resident said that when they read in the news that morning that the drone had crossed the Estonian border in southeastern Estonia but had not left the border zone, they were even more confused, as Põlva is not in the border zone. "It left me wondering whether the situation really was under control."

Another local resident said the drone flew over Põlva after 4 a.m. and was followed a couple of minutes later by a jet aircraft. A third source said a drone flew over a house in the village of Vardja at around 3:30 a.m. A person living in Põlva said they believed the drone could be heard over the lake in the city.

Responding to an ERR inquiry, the Defense Forces said that for security reasons it could not comment on the drones' exact flight paths or the locations and times at which the unmanned aerial vehicles were detected.

"Releasing such information would make it possible to draw conclusions about the capabilities and coverage of Estonia's air surveillance. Nor is it possible, based solely on an audio recording, to reliably determine whether the recorded sound came specifically from an unmanned aerial vehicle," the Defense Forces said.

Estonian Air Force Commander Brig. Gen. Riivo Valge confirmed Tuesday morning that one drone briefly headed toward Narva from Russia overnight, while another drone crossed the border in southeastern Estonia some time later.

The drone heading toward Narva veered back toward Russia and did not enter Estonia. About half an hour later, a second drone crossed the border in southeastern Estonia. "It also crossed the Estonian border and remained close to the border zone," Valge said.

In the early hours of September 1, the Estonian Defense Forces issued an alert about a potential aerial threat in Lääne-Viru and Ida-Viru counties. Half an hour later, the Defense Forces also issued an alert about a potential threat in Tartu, Jõgeva, Viljandi, Valga, Võru and Põlva counties. Drone alerts were also issued for Latvia's Alūksne area and eastern Finland, while fighter jets assigned to NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission were activated.

The aerial threat alert was lifted across Estonia shortly before 6 a.m.

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