Estonia reports new airspace violation by Russian fighter jets

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Russian planes entered Estonian airspace in February

Photo: Yuri Smityuk / picture alliance / dpa / TASS

Estonia has reported violations of its airspace by two Russian planes. Two Sukhoi Su-35S machines entered the airspace of the Baltic EU and NATO countries without permission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn summoned the chargé d'affaires of the Russian ambassador to Estonia and handed over a note, the Estonian army announced on Wednesday. According to the information, it was the fourth airspace violation by Russia this year.

The two aircraft had therefore neither switched on the electronic identification nor transmitted a flight plan. The Russian pilots also had no radio contact with air traffic control at the time of the airspace breach, which lasted less than a minute, the army announcement said. In February and May of this year, Estonia complained to Russia about violating its airspace.

According to a spokeswoman, NATO has observed an increase in Russian military activities in the airspace near the Alliance's borders in recent years.

The Bundeswehr is also regularly involved in the surveillance of Russian aircraft as part of NATO's increased air policing in the Baltic States.

The program started in 2014 after the beginning of the Ukraine conflict - mainly at the request of the Eastern allies Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

nek / dpa / AFX