DISINFO: Claim that Russia violated Estonian airspace is unfounded and raises tension

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: Claim that Russia violated Estonian airspace is unfounded and raises tension

SUMMARY

Estonia’s claims that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated its airspace on 19 September 2025 are completely unfounded. The Russian Ministry of Defence has never received any confirmation from Estonia showing objective monitoring data to support such allegations. The accusations are part of a broader effort to escalate tensions and provoke confrontations. This approach is not new for Estonia or other Baltic states and only serves to further increase tensions in the region.

RESPONSE

This claim was made in the context of the violation of Estonian air space by three Russian fighter jets 19 September 2025.

There is clear evidence that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets did violate Estonia's air space on 19 September 2025 and lingered for nearly twelve minutes. The Estonian Defence Forces has published a chart showing their flight path. The image traced how the interceptors entered in the vicinity of Vaindloo Island, five miles inside NATO airspace, before flying parallel to Estonia’s border from east to west. Estonian media reported that the aircraft did not have flight plans and their transponders were turned off. At the time of the violation, the aircraft also did not have two-way radio communication with Estonian air traffic control.

The Estonian Defence Forces characterised the incursion as the most serious in years. NATO Spokesperson Allison Hart wrote on her X account that Russian jets violated Estonian airspace on 19 September 2025, describing it as “yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO’s ability to respond.” The EU’s senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who previously served as Estonia’s prime minister, condemned Moscow for an “extremely dangerous provocation” and warned that the latest Russian breach of NATO’s eastern borders “further escalates tensions in the region.”

Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The drone in Romania is not Russian, it is a Ukrainian provocation, that Russian drones over Poland were part of a secret Western operation aimed at thwarting all peace initiatives, Poland uses unverified claim of Russian drones attack to fuel Russophobia.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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