Russia on Monday (Sep 22) responded to the accusations made by NATO member state Estonia, claiming that they do not have any evidence to back their claims. Russia said that Estonia is falsely claiming that Russian military jets had violated its airspace last week. It also said that the accusations were made by the NATO member to ratchet up East-West tensions. Estonia had on Friday claimed that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had entered Estonian airspace without permission and stayed for a total of 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw. The said incursion by Russia came over a week after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting NATO jets to shoot some of them down.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Tallinn of making false statements. "We never heard in the Estonian statement that they have objective monitoring data (to back up their claim). That is why we consider such words to be empty, unfounded and a continuation of a completely reckless pattern of escalating tensions and provoking a confrontational atmosphere," Peskov told reporters. The statement by Russia comes ahead of the UN Security Council meeting, wherein Article 4 consultations about the incident will take place among NATO member nations. Peskov stressed that Russian pilots always operated in accordance with international law.
In September, Poland, on September 9, confirmed that it shot down Russian drones that entered its airspace in a strike towards Ukraine. This was the first time since the start of the war in 2022 that a Russian incursion was reported in NATO nations bordering Russia-Ukraine. Romania was the second NATO country to report a Russian drone had breached its airspace on September 14. Then on Friday, Estonia requested an urgent consultation with other Nato members after three Russian warplanes entered its airspace “without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes.”
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “deliberately targeting” NATO countries. On Sep 20, Britain said it's fighter jets conducted a NATO air defence mission over Poland as part of an allied response to Russian drone incursions. Moscow has downplayed these incidents and has said that it has "no plans to target" facilities in Poland. These incidents have exposed the difference between European leaders' urgent calls for action against Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump's muted response to these calls.
