Three Russian warplanes that violated Estonian airspace have been intercepted by Nato, the military alliance has said.

Estonia’s foreign ministry in Tallinn condemned the incursion as “brazen”. It said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered the airspace of a Nato member “without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes” on Friday over the Gulf of Finland.

Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said the military alliance “responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft”, calling it “yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and Nato’s ability to respond”. She gave no further details.

The Russian military has not publicly commented on the issue.

Tensions have escalated between the Nato military alliance and Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

They have risen in the last week, after Poland and Romania – both Nato members – said Russian drones breached their airspace.

Estonia’s foreign ministry said it summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires “to lodge a protest” over Friday’s incursion, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas described the incident as “an extremely dangerous provocation”.

In a statement, Estonian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Friday’s incursion was “unprecedentedly brazen”.

He continued: “Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”

The minister added Russia had already violated Estonia’s airspace four times in 2025.

In a post on X, Kallas, who is an Estonian national, said the EU “will continue to support our member states in strengthening their defences with European resources”.

She said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “testing the West’s resolve. We must not show weakness”.

Echoing her words, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X: “We will respond to every provocation with determination while investing in a stronger Eastern flank.

“As threats escalate, so too will our pressure,” she added.

Estonian media are reporting that in the latest incident the Russian jets had their transponders switched off.

Last week, Poland’s military said it had shot down at least three Russian drones, with prime minister Donald Tusk saying 19 drones were recorded entering Polish airspace.

Russia insisted the incident was not deliberate, and its defence ministry said there had been “no plans” to target facilities on Polish soil.

Belarus, a close Russian ally, said the drones which entered Polish airspace were an accident, after their navigation systems were jammed.

Several days later, Romania’s defence ministry said it had detected a Russian drone when two F-16 jets were monitoring the country’s border with Ukraine, after “Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube [river]”.

The ministry said the drone later disappeared from the radar.

Russia has not commented on the reported incursion into Romanian airspace.

Source: www.bbc.com