Estonia says fighter jets have shot down stray drone for first time

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has said that a fighter jet has for the first time shot down what was likely a stray Ukrainian strike drone over Estonian territory after air-raid warnings were issued in part of the country.

Source: European Pravda, citing Delfi, a Baltic states news website

Details: Pevkur said the UAV that entered Estonian airspace was downed by fighter jets patrolling over the Baltic states above Lake Võrtsjärv in the central-southern part of the country, roughly halfway between Estonia's eastern border with Russia and the coast of the Gulf of Riga. The location is about 80 km from the Russian border.

"This is the first time we have independently shot down a drone," the defence minister said.

He added that the UAV was most likely a Ukrainian drone that had gone off course while heading towards targets inside Russia.

Background:

• The air-raid warning issued at 12:00 has not yet been lifted.
• Meanwhile, air-raid warnings were issued in four regions of Latvia amid suspicions that a UAV had entered the country's territory.
• Over the weekend, a drone – thought to be a Ukrainian strike UAV – was found in north-eastern Lithuania after crashing near residential buildings without detonating. Border guards had reportedly detected the drone but were unable to identify its type at the time and later lost track of it.

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