Russian jets over Estonia ignored signals from NATO pilots, officials say
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – A senior Estonian military official said on Saturday, Russian pilots NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission from the Estonian airspace to the Italian jets ignored the signals.
. 12 minutes attack It was the latest test of the Alliance’s ability to respond to Russian air threats. 20 Russian aircraft entered the Poland airspace On September 10th.
Russia’s defense ministry rejected that the plane flew to Estonia’s airspace on Saturday, Tallinn, on Friday without permission to report that three warrior jets passed.
Estonian officials rejected that the violation was approved by radar and visual contact and that it could be a tactic to remove Western sources from Ukraine.
The Estonian army said Russian MIG-31 fighters entered the Estonia airspace in local hours between 09:58 and 10:10 at 10:10. A ministry statement, this year, Russia’s fourth airspace violation, he said.
If the border violation was deliberate or not, the commander of Estonia Military Intelligence Center Col. Ants told Associated Press. Regardless of the Russian jets “(Estonia) should know that they should be in the airspace,” he said.
Kiiselg said Russian pilots did not make a “military threat ..
However, although the F-35 fighter aircraft accepted communication from the flying Italian pilots, they apparently ignored and “they didn’t actually follow the signs”, which partially stayed in the Estonian airspace.
“Why didn’t they do it, a question for Russian pilots, Ki Kiiselg said.
‘This may be a big problem’
The Russian jets came from an airport near Petrozavodsk, northwest of Russia, and were going to Kalingrad, Russia in the Baltic Sea, a sandwich between Lithuania and Poland. Kiiselg said that two Finnish warrior jets were followed before accompanying two Italian jets from Estonia’s ämari air base and following them to the international sky.
US President Donald Trump replied, saying that he would be informed by his assistants about the attack on journalists on Friday. Orum I don’t like it, ”he said: orum I don’t like it when this happens. It may be a big problem, but I’ll let you know later.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahknna told the EP that the incident was “a very serious violation of the NATO airspace”. Estonia said, “Estonia just before joining NATO,” Estonia said.
Estonia government, Article 4 of the NATO Treaty This allows a member to officially consult the Allies when they are threatened with regional integrity, political independence or security. Poland also used the mechanism after violating the airspace by Russian drones, and then NATO started it. Eastern guard The task of increasing defenses throughout the eastern wing.
Lithuania Defense Minister Dovilė šakalienė proposed that the NATO member was an example of how to respond to such events when a Russian fighter plane that violated the airspace in 2015 for about 17 seconds.
However, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that when Moscow used war jets, “Russians really killed the Turks”. The target of what they said was militant groups close to the Syrian border with Türkiye.
During the incident on Friday, Estonia and its allies observed Russian Jets’ ways, communication and reaction from the pilots, and their weapon systems, and said, “He was very sure that there was no need to hit them.”
Czech President Petr Pavel said on Saturday that NATO should respond sufficiently to Russian violations, including Russian jets. “Russia will quickly understand that they have made a mistake and that they have crossed acceptable boundaries very quickly. Unfortunately, it is swinging on the edge of this conflict, but it is not just an option to give evil.”
On Saturday, Estonian officials claimed that NATO’s collective defense substance 5, despite the violations repeated by Russian jets and drones and the allegations of Moscow, NATO’s collective defense substance 5. Hybrid war against the West A sabotage campaign, cyber attacks and impact operations.
Radar and visual definition
In an online statement published on Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that war flights hold more neutral Baltic Sea water than Vaindloo Island than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles).
Three Mig-31 jetin “Karelia’dan Kaliningrad in an airport planned to complete a flight” and “other states did not violate the boundaries,” he said.
Pevkur, Estonia and NATO allies of the Russian jets entering the country’s airspace confirming the “multiple” radars and visual identity of the statement rejected the statement.
He suggested the “basic reason için for air violations, and hybrid war and cyber attacks were to remove the West’s attention from Ukraine.
Pevkur, Moscow, NATO Nations, Kiev’s allies, “about our own defense” more, and the hopes to do less to support Kiev, he said he could try to send additional air defense assets to Estonia.
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Estonia, Associated Press journalist in Tallinn, Kostya Manenkov contributed to this report.
