Estonia has taken an unprecedented action for a NATO member country, shortly after the incident with the Ukrainian drone.
Specifically, as it became known, it shot down a Ukrainian drone over its territory, and has now closed its airspace to that country.
The announcement was made by the country's Minister of Defense, Hano Pevkur.
On May 14, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that the Latvian government resigned after Ukrainian drones accidentally fell on Latvian territory.
Regarding the Estonian case, it is noted that in recent weeks there have been several incidents related to Ukrainian UAVs targeting northwestern Russia, particularly energy facilities in the Leningrad Region.
Some of the planes eventually crashed in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland.
Moscow, reacting, warned that if it is proven that the Baltic countries and Finland "deliberately offer their airspace" to Kiev's UAVs, then Russia has the right to self-defense against an "armed attack," based on Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Pevkur confirmed that “this is the first time we have shot down a drone ourselves.” According to the minister, the downed drone was deployed from Kiev and was targeting Russian territory.
The minister also stressed that the Estonian military had received advance notice of the drone coming from neighboring Latvia.
"We activated the necessary measures and a fighter jet from the Baltic Air Police mission shot down the drone over Lake Vorcijarvi, in the southern part of the country," he explained.
Earlier this month, Pevkur said that Kiev should stop using Estonian airspace for drone attacks against Russia.
“The easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to better control their activities,” the minister said. Tallinn “will now start addressing this issue very quickly,” he said, referring to the drone violations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) revealed that, according to its information, Latvia has given Ukraine permission to use its territory for possible drone attacks against Russia.
The SVR warned that "the coordinates of decision-making centers on the territory of Latvia are known and the country's membership in NATO will not protect terrorist collaborators from fair punishment."
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