Russian jets over Estonia ignored signals from NATO pilots, officials say

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Russian jets over Estonia ignored signals from NATO pilots, officials say

2025-09-21 02:51 Last Updated At：03:00

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian pilots ignored signals from Italian jets responding from NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission when they violated Estonian airspace, a senior Estonian military official said Saturday.

The 12-minute incursion was the latest test of the alliance's ability to respond to Russian airborne threats after around 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on Sept. 10.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday denied its aircraft flew into Estonia’s airspace, after Tallinn reported three fighter jets crossed into its territory on Friday without permission.

Estonian officials dismissed the denial, saying the violation was confirmed by radar and visual contact and suggested it could be a tactic to draw Western resources away from Ukraine.

The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace between 9:58 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. local time Friday in the area of Vaindloo, a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said. A ministry statement said it was the fourth airspace violation by Russia this year.

It still “needs to be confirmed,” if the border violation was deliberate or not, Col. Ants Kiviselg, the commander of Estonia’s Military Intelligence Center, told The Associated Press. Regardless, he said, the Russian jets "must have known that they are in (Estonian) airspace.”

The Russian pilots didn't pose a “military threat,” Kiviselg said.

But although they acknowledged communication from the Italian pilots flying F-35 fighter jets, they apparently ignored it and “didn’t actually follow the signs,” which is partly why they were in Estonian airspace for so long, he added.

“Why they didn’t do it, that’s a question for the Russian pilots,” Kiviselg said.

The Russian jets came from an airfield near the city of Petrozavodsk, in northwestern Russia, and were heading to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. They were tracked by two Finnish fighter jets before being escorted by the two Italian jets, which took off from Estonia's Ämari Air Base and followed them into international skies, Kiviselg said.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded Friday by telling reporters he will be briefed by aides on the incursion. “I don’t love it,” he said, adding: “I don’t like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I’ll let you know later.”

Margus Tsahkna, Estonia's foreign minister, told AP the incident was “a very serious violation of NATO airspace.” The last time Estonian airspace was violated for so long was in 2003, he said, “just before Estonia joined NATO.”

Estonia’s government responded by saying it would request consultations under Article 4 of NATO’s treaty which allows a member to formally consult with allies whenever their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. Poland also used the mechanism after its airspace was violated by Russian drones and, after that, NATO launched its Eastern Sentry mission to boost defenses along it’s eastern flank.

Posting on X, Lithuania's Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė suggested NATO member “Turkey set an example” of how to respond to such incidents in 2015 when it shot down a Russian fighter jet which violated its airspace for around 17 seconds.

But that situation was “totally different,” Hanno Pevkur, Estonia's defense minister said, adding that the "Russians actually killed Turks,” when Moscow used fighter jets to target what they said were militant groups near the Syrian border with Turkey.

During Friday’s incident, Estonia and its allies observed the Russian jets’ route, communication and reaction from the pilots as well as the weapons systems they were carrying and were “very confident that there is no need to shoot them down,” Pevkur said.

Czech President Petr Pavel said Saturday that NATO must respond adequately to Russian violations, including potentially by shooting down Russian jets, the Czech News Agency reported. “Russia will realize very quickly that they have made a mistake and crossed the acceptable boundaries. Unfortunately, this is teetering on the edge of conflict, but giving in to evil is simply not an option,” Pavel said.

Estonian officials maintained Saturday that there was no need to trigger Article 5, NATO's collective defense clause, despite the repeated violations by Russian jets and drones as well as allegations from Western officials that Moscow is waging a hybrid war against the West including a sabotage campaign, cyberattacks and influence operations.

In an online statement published Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said its fighter jets had kept to neutral Baltic Sea waters more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Vaindloo Island.

It said the three MiG-31 jets “completed a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in the Kaliningrad region" and "did not violate the borders of other states.”

Pevkur dismissed the statement, saying Estonia and its NATO allies have “multiple” radars and visual identification which confirm the Russian jets entered the country's airspace.

He suggested the “root cause” for the air violations, hybrid war and cyberattacks was to distract Western attention from Ukraine.

Moscow, Pevkur said, may be trying to provoke NATO nations into sending additional air defense assets to Estonia in the hope that Kyiv's allies do more “about our own defense," and less to support Kyiv.

Associated Press journalist Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.