Estonia's fleet was refused by the tanker Jaguar when they tried to board the vessel near the island of Nargö) off Tallinn on Tuesday. The ship is subject to sanctions from the United Kingdom, and is suspected of sailing under a false flag.
According to Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, Russia sent a fighter jet to the location.
NATO is in contact with Estonia following the incident, says the defense alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
We have seen several of these things over the past 6-12 months. NATO and Estonia are in close contact about this and are coordinating so that we know exactly what is happening. This is why we are acting together in this region, he says during today's NATO meeting in Turkey.
The plane, a Su-35 type, flew in the area around the Juminda Peninsula along the Gulf of Finland and was in Estonian airspace for less than a minute, according to a press release from Estonia's Defense Forces. The plane's transponders were turned off and the pilot did not maintain two-way communication with the Estonian air traffic control.
Portuguese fighter jets of the F-16 type, stationed at the airbase in Ämari as part of NATO's air surveillance, were then sent up and conducted a reconnaissance flight.
Estonia's Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia's chargé d'affaires in the country.
"This is a very serious and regrettable incident, which is completely unacceptable", writes Margus Tsahkna in a post on X.
