Russian jets violate NATO airspace, Baltic platform zone amid tensions

Three Russian fighter jets violated the safety zone of a Polish drilling platform in the Baltic Sea and separately crossed into Estonian airspace Friday in an incident NATO allies called an alarming escalation.

Polish Border Guards said two Russian jets performed a low pass over the Petrobaltic platform, breaching its security zone. Hours earlier, Estonia reported that three Russian MIG-31s flew over its territory for 12 minutes, describing the move as “unprecedentedly brazen.” The aircraft had no flight plans, transponders switched off and no radio contact, according to Estonian officials.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said the government would initiate NATO Article 4 consultations, which allow members to convene when their security is threatened. NATO’s North Atlantic Council is set to meet early next week to discuss the incident in more detail. Italian F-35 jets deployed under the Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled in response.

“This extremely dangerous provocation further escalates tensions in the region,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, adding that Europe must show “no weakness.”

The latest incidents come a week after Poland, with NATO support, shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace—the first time a NATO member has fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Together, they mark the most serious cross-border confrontations since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Estonia summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires to protest the incursion. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna warned Moscow’s actions “must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”

The violations unfolded as MI6 chief Richard Moore, speaking in Istanbul, said there is “absolutely no evidence” Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks peace. Instead, he accused Putin of mortgaging Russia’s future “for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history.”

The war, now in its third year, continues to fuel fears that Russia’s aggression could spill into NATO territory, with frontline states Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania among the strongest supporters of Ukraine.