Estonia tells Kyiv to tighten drone control after Ukraine offers experts over aerial incidents

Prefer on Google by Linda Hourani Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 20, 2025. (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images) Ukraine has offered to send experts to the Baltic states to help strengthen air security following several drone-related incidents, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on May 9. The Ukrainian side has already contacted the Estonian embassy regarding the issue, but no additional details have been disclosed, according to ERR. The proposal follows several incidents in which Ukrainian drones strayed into the territory of the Baltic states and Finland, likely due to Russian jamming during attacks on Russian oil-exporting facilities on the Baltic coast since January. In response, the Estonian government signaled that it expects Ukraine to better control its drones. "Of course, all this needs to be clarified and explained, what exactly it means, what they themselves meant by it," said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. "I will start dealing with this immediately. Certainly, the easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to better control their activities." Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna expressed concern that Russia could exploit jammed Ukrainian drones to carry out attacks on NATO territory. "It is dangerous in another sense that Russia could take control of Ukrainian drones and send them toward us, somewhere where there could also be civilian casualties," Tsahkna said. Both Ukraine and Russia use complex networks of jamming and navigation spoofing devices to defend against mass drone and missile attacks on their territory, leading to some of the drones sometimes flying off course. In March, two Ukrainian drones reportedly entered Latvia and Estonia, respectively, amid a mass overnight attack on targets inside Russia. The incursions occurred amid one of Ukraine's largest mass deep strike drone attacks on Russia. Russian drones have on several occasions been found on Moldovan and Romanian territory after overshooting targets in Ukraine's Odesa Oblast.