The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on the night of 19-20 September that their MiGs “had not violated” Estonian airspace.

Source: Russian Defence Ministry

Quote: “Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets conducted a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in Kaliningrad Oblast on 19 September this year.”

Details: The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that the flight of their MiGs had been conducted “in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace” and “did not cross the borders of other states”.

Quote: “Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed air route and did not violate Estonian airspace during the flight. The flight path of the aircraft was over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, more than three kilometres from the island of Vormsi.”

Background:

On 19 September, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes.After that, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Estonia to lodge a protest and hand over a note regarding the violation of airspace.Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said that the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian military aircraft is “an extremely dangerous provocation”.NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed that “Russian jets violated Estonian airspace” on the morning of Friday 19 September and stated that NATO responded to the incursion.US President Donald Trump said that he doesn’t love the fact that three Russian MiG-31s entered Estonian airspace.

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