NATO-Russia face-off over airspace violation

A new round of tensions has arisen between NATO and Moscow over Russian fighter jets flying over the Baltic Sea. The Estonian government has claimed that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets stayed in its airspace for 12 minutes, which it has called an “unprecedented reckless intrusion.” However, Russia has completely denied the allegations.

A photo released on Friday (September 19, 2025) shows Russian MiG-31 fighter jets flying over the Baltic Sea. Estonia says they violated its airspace. But early Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the fighter jets flew in accordance with international airspace rules and did not cross Estonian territory.

Russia claims that its fighter jets used international airspace on their way from the northwest to Kaliningrad. The ministry's statement said, "The Russian warplanes did not deviate from the designated airspace during their flight and did not violate Estonian airspace."

On the other hand, NATO alleged that these warplanes entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and stayed there for a total of 12 minutes. After the incident, the alliance claimed that NATO warplanes intercepted them.

It is worth noting that more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace a few days ago. NATO warplanes shot down some of them. At the same time, Romania also complained about Russian drones entering its airspace.

Relations between NATO and Moscow have been extremely tense since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. International analysts believe that new diplomatic tensions have begun over this latest incident.