Russian warplanes violating Estonia airspace intercepted, Nato says [View all]

Source: BBC

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Three Russian warplanes that violated Estonian airspace have been intercepted by Nato, the military alliance has said. Estonia's foreign ministry in Tallinn condemned the incursion as "brazen". It said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered the airspace of a Nato member "without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes" on Friday over the Gulf of Finland.

Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said the military alliance "responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft", but gave no further details. The Russian military has not publicly commented on the issue.

Tensions have escalated between the Nato military alliance and Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They have risen in the last week, after Poland and Romania - both Nato members - said Russian drones breached their airspace.

Estonia's foreign ministry said it summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires "to lodge a protest" over Friday's incursion, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas described the incident as "an extremely dangerous provocation". In a statement, Estonian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Friday's incursion was "unprecedentedly brazen".

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrp6p5mj3zo