NATO has intercepted three Russian warplanes that violated Estonian airspace, the military alliance said on Friday.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry condemned the incursion as “brazen”. It said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered NATO airspace over the Gulf of Finland today “without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes”.
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said the alliance “reacted immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft”, calling it “another example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO’s ability to respond”.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal later said her government had “decided to request NATO consultations under Article 4”.
Article 4 of the NATO treaty formally initiates emergency consultations within the 32-member alliance, which binds the US and many European nations to collective defence.
The Russian military has not commented publicly on the matter.
Tensions between the NATO military alliance and Russia have escalated since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They rose last week after Poland and Romania, both NATO members, said Russian drones had entered their airspace.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Russian charge d’affaires “to lodge a protest” over the incursion, while the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, described the incident as an “extremely dangerous provocation.”
In a statement, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Friday’s incursion was “unprecedentedly brazen.”
“Russia’s increasingly extensive border testing and growing aggressiveness must be met with rapidly increasing political and economic pressure,” he added.
The minister added that Russia had already violated Estonian airspace four times in 2025.
In a post on X, Kallas, who is an Estonian citizen, said the EU “will continue to support our member states in strengthening their defense with European resources.”
She said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “testing the determination of the West.
“We must not show weakness,” she pointed out.
