Estonia has said a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone, which it suspects was a Ukrainian projectile knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming, over its territory. No damage was reported.

Estonian Defense Minister Provides Details

Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said a Romanian F-16 fired a missile and drone debris fell in a marshy area in central Estonia on Tuesday. He added he had “immediately” discussed the incident with his Ukrainian counterpart, who apologised for the incident.

Estonia has not granted permission to use its airspace to anyone other than its allies, and the Ukrainians have not asked for this permission, Pevkur said. The drone was shot down shortly after 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT) between the lake of Võrtsjärv and the town of Põltsamaa.

Ukraine Accuses Russia of Redirection

Ukraine reacted by accusing Russia of deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones launched at “legitimate military targets” in Russia, apologising to “Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents.”

In a statement, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said “Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones into the Baltics” and did this “on purpose, together with intensified propaganda.” He added: “We apologise to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents,” stressing “we use the Russian airspace to get to them.”

Geopolitical Tensions in the Baltic Region

Local media outlets later published photos of what they said were drone fragments on the ground. The drone crashed into a forest, about 30m (98ft) from the nearest residential building, Estonia’s ERR public broadcaster reported. A local resident said: “There was a loud bang and I saw the drone fall from the sky.”

Last week, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned following a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory. Earlier this month, two Ukrainian drones hit an empty oil storage site in Latvia. Ukraine said this was the result of electronic jamming by Russia.

Moscow has accused the three Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to use their “air corridors” to strike targets inside Russia—a claim denied by Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Ukraine has recently intensified its drone and missile attacks against targets in Russia, including oil and gas facilities near the Baltic states.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Pevkur said the drone was identified as a potential threat even before it entered Estonia’s air space. “We received early information from Latvia about a drone that had strayed off course, and Estonia tracked the drone until Romanian fighter jets participating in the Baltic air policing mission shot it down,” the Estonian defence ministry said in a statement.