A drone was shot down in Estonia by a NATO fighter jet stationed in Lithuania, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told reporters on Tuesday.
"We share airspace surveillance with Latvia and Lithuania," Pevkur said. "The drone was shot down by a Romanian fighter jet based in Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania.”
The jet operates as part of the NATO Air Policing mission, with fighter planes stationed in Estonia and Lithuania.
This marks the first time a drone that violated Baltic airspace was shot down by a NATO fighter jet.
The target was “a Ukrainian drone that had strayed into Estonia”, Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Estonian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said on social media.
Pevkur said that his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykhailo Fedorov, apologised for the incident.
The incident comes amid a series of other Ukrainian drone crashes in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Officials said the drones entered the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania after being deflected by Russian electronic warfare measures.
The drones were launched by Kyiv as part of the country’s campaign against Russian energy and military infrastructure following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Previously, Russian combat drones also crashed in the Baltic states after being pushed off course by Ukrainian defences.
Later on Tuesday, Lithuania’s Defence Ministry said there was no threat to the country’s airspace.
"No incidents were recorded in our country's airspace. NATO air policing fighters that were activated in Baltic airspace have returned to their permanent bases, and the Fire and Rescue Department was alerted regarding potential public notification needs," it said in a statement.
The ministry also reminded the public that recommendations on how to act upon spotting a drone or receiving an air threat warning are available on the LT72.lt website.
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