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A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet violated Estonian airspace on the evening of 13 May, flying without a flight plan, with transponders off, and no radio contact. The breach—lasting under a minute—occurred over the Juminda Peninsula in the Gulf of Finland during Exercise Hedgehog, Estonia’s largest annual military drill involving over 16,000 NATO troops.
Portuguese F-16s, deployed under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, launched a reconnaissance flight in response. Estonia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires and issued a formal diplomatic protest.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna condemned the incursion as “not acceptable in any way.” While rare in recent years, similar airspace violations by Russian aircraft were frequent between 2014 and 2023, often involving transponder-off flights near Estonian borders.
Former EDF Commander Gen. Martin Herem has previously noted that such actions often reflect Russian disorganisation rather than deliberate hybrid warfare, describing them as “bravado and macho posturing.”