Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has issued a stark warning that Ukraine must immediately cease using Estonian airspace for drone attacks on Russia, calling such operations a direct threat to regional security.
In the past few weeks, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland have reported multiple cases of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) crashing within their territories. Moscow has previously accused NATO members of quietly permitting Ukraine to target Russian energy facilities in the northwestern Leningrad Region.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo recently informed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy that Helsinki deems Ukraine’s aircraft entering its airspace “unacceptable.” Speaking on Sunday, Pevkur stated that Estonian authorities “will start dealing with this very quickly now” and urged Ukraine to explain “what exactly it means and what they themselves had in mind by it.” He added, “Certainly, the easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to control their activities better.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna acknowledged that Ukraine has every right to carry out attacks inside Russia but expressed concerns about a potential escalation, warning that “Russia could take control of Ukrainian drones and send them toward us.” Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds previously declined to criticize Ukraine’s actions, asserting that it “has every right to defend itself,” though he noted that breaches of Riga’s airspace would continue as long as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains unresolved, blaming Moscow for the incursions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga announced on Friday that Kyiv is considering sending expert teams to help directly strengthen the airspace defenses of the four countries. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu, in April, claimed that either Western air defense systems are ineffective against Ukrainian UAVs or the Baltic States and Finland “deliberately provide their airspace,” thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia. In such a case, Moscow has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
