NATO jet downs Ukrainian drone over Estonia amid Russian jamming

A Romanian NATO fighter jet shot down a drone over Estonian airspace on Tuesday in what officials said appeared to be a case of Russian electronic jamming diverting a Ukrainian unmanned aircraft into alliance territory.

Estonia's military said the drone entered its airspace around noon local time, coming from Russia into the southeastern part of the country. A Romanian F-16 jet operating as part of NATO's Baltic air policing mission, based in Lithuania, intercepted and fired a single missile at the aircraft at 12:14 local time, destroying it.

Estonia's defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, said the drone was likely a Ukrainian aircraft intended for targets in western Russia. A local resident told Estonian public broadcaster ERR that he witnessed two fighter jets in the area before hearing a loud bang as the drone came down, with the wreckage landing approximately 30 metres from the nearest residential building.

Officials attributed the incident to heavy electronic warfare conditions, including GPS spoofing and jamming by Russia. Estonia's military said that after analyzing the drone's trajectory, authorities determined it needed to be shot down.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Heorhiy Tykhyi, said on Tuesday that Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones toward Baltic countries using electronic warfare capabilities. "Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones to the Baltics using its electronic warfare. And Moscow is doing this intentionally, alongside intensified propaganda," Tykhyi wrote on social media. "We apologize to Estonia and all our Baltic friends for such unintentional incidents."

Ukraine stated it is working closely with specialized institutions to investigate each case and develop prevention measures, including direct involvement of expert groups. The country reiterated that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland have never permitted their airspace to be used for strikes against Russia, contrary to Russian propaganda claims.

This marked the first confirmed instance of NATO shooting down a Ukrainian drone. Multiple drones have strayed into Baltic airspace in recent months. Ukraine has developed long-range unmanned aircraft capable of striking targets deep inside Russian territory and has conducted sustained drone operations against Russian positions.

Both Estonia and Latvia issued air alerts on Tuesday reporting drone activity in their airspace, though it was unclear initially whether they referred to the same or different aircraft.