Estonia declares readiness to shoot down Russian drones if they violate its space

Estonia is ready to shoot down enemy drones if they violate its airspace. This was stated by Foreign Minister Margus Tskakhkna in response to journalists' questions at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga .

"Yes. As President Trump said, we have to shoot them down if they pose an immediate threat. We have all the protocols and all the capabilities. Estonia has been part of NATO for over 20 years. The Alliance is ready to defend its territory," he said .

Tsahkna said the country now expects more involvement, weaponry and better coordination when it comes to such violations.

He also recalled that when Russian planes violated the airspace of for 12 minutes on September 19, three NATO aircraft were raised to counteract.

"This was not the first time that Russia tested our capabilities, and NATO's Central European mission was reinforced immediately after the violation of Polish airspace. In this way, we are increasing coordination across our entire region and strengthening our capabilities," said the Estonian minister .

• on October 10 and 11, armed Russian military units were spotted near the Estonian border in the area of the Saatsa Boot. On the same day, Estonia closed the border crossing with Russia .
• On October 16, the country announced that would not open the crossing instead, it would build fences.