An helicopter of the NATO Special Operations Forces is seen during the Trojan Footprint 2026 (TFP26) military exercise at sea in Constanta, south-eastern Romania.
| Photo Credit: AFP
A Romanian F-16 jet belonging to The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air policing forces in the Baltics on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) shot down what is believed to have been a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia, authorities said.
Given the trajectory of the drone, “we decided that we need to take it down,” Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
“Most probably, today we can say that it was (a) drone which was, let’s say, meant to hit some Russian targets,” he told The Associated Press.
It was the latest in a string of incidents in recent months in which Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory.
Those incidents have come as Kyiv has steadily ramped up its drone raids, focusing on Russian energy facilities and arms factories.
On Sunday (May 17, 2026) , authorities in Russia said that one of the largest Ukrainian drone strikes on the country killed at least four people, including three near Moscow, and wounded a dozen others.
Ukraine’s ability to break through Russian air defences reflect the growth in the number of its drones, along with its enhanced tactics.
Mr. Pevkur said that Ukraine has been advised to be careful.
“Our messages have not changed,” Mr. Pevkur said. “We’ve said to the Ukrainians all the time that if you’re attacking Russian positions or Russian targets, then these trajectories have to be as far from the NATO territory as possible.” The strikes have caused some tensions within the Baltic states, and between them and Russia.
Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed, with the prime minister resigning after the defence minister was forced to quit over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine, and his party withdrew its support.
On Tuesday(May 19, 2026), Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said that Ukraine was preparing to start launching drone attacks against Russia from the territory of the Baltic countries and warned of retaliation.
It said in a statement that the Ukrainian military personnel had already deployed to Latvia and warned that the country’s membership in NATO wouldn’t protect it from “just retribution.” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics posted on X that “Russia is lying about Latvia allowing any country to use Latvian airspace and territory to launch attacks against Russia or any other country.” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement following Tuesday’s (May 19, 2026) incident that Ukraine has every right to strike Russian military targets.
“Estonia has not permitted its airspace to be used for attacks against Russia,” he said. “Incidents such as this are linked to Russian jamming activities.”
Published – May 19, 2026 07:46 pm IST
