Russian military plane accused of violating Estonian airspace
On Tuesday, AN-148 of Russian Air Force crossed into Estonian airspace near the island of Vaindloo.
This was reported by the website of the Estonian Ministry of Defense. The Russian plane stayed over the Estonian territory for about a minute. The plane had its transponder on and provided a flight plan.
According to the Estonian Ministry of Defense, at the time of entry there was no direct communication with the plane crew and Estonian air control services.
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed a note of protest to the Russian ambassador. This is the sixth violation of the Estonian airspace by Russian military planes this year.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of relations between Russia and the West, the instances of Russian warships and aircraft approaching the borders of the Baltic States have increased significantly.
In particular, Russian military planes were detected near the borders of Latvia more than 270 times in 2015.
On October 6, Finland recorded two cases of supposed violation of its airspace by Russian aircraft.