Melike Pala and Burak Bir
19 May 2026•Update: 19 May 2026
NATO on Tuesday confirmed that Romanian fighter jets operating under its Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a drone over Estonian airspace, an alliance spokesperson told Anadolu, with Estonia’s defense minister later saying Ukraine had apologized for the incident.
Hanno Pevkur, the defense minister, earlier told public broadcaster ERR that a suspected Ukrainian drone entered his country’s airspace and was intercepted over Lake Vortsjarv.
"We received advance information from our Latvian colleagues, and our radar also detected a drone moving into southern Estonia. We activated the necessary measures, and a Baltic Air Policing fighter jet shot the drone down," Pevkur said.
According to the report, the drone was shot down by a Romanian fighter jet based in Siauliai, Lithuania, as part of NATO's air policing mission.
Pevkur said the drone incident has concluded, adding that the country's data does not show any other unauthorized drones in Estonian airspace.
"It was most likely a Ukrainian drone that had veered off course due to Russian electronic interference," amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, said Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Estonian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.
Pevkur also said that Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov apologized for the incident in a phone call.
Allison Hart, a NATO spokesperson, confirmed the incident in a written statement to Anadolu, saying: "An investigation is ongoing and NATO is in close contact with the Estonian authorities. NATO is ready and able to react to any potential air threats, 24/7, to safeguard our territory and protect our people."
