The Baltic states are sounding the alarm after being caught in the crossfire last week when several Ukrainian drones veered off course as part of attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have called on the European Union to help strengthen air defenses. They also sought to deny claims in Russian media that Ukraine was allowed to use their airspace to carry out attacks.
But officials were also quick to admit that they could not do much to prevent similar incidents in the future as Kiev seeks to undermine a key source of revenue that fuels Moscow’s war.
“The idea that we could build a wall with Russia so that nothing would ever cross it is not realistic,” said Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “No one can create such a border or fortress.
Waves of Ukrainian attack drones ignited Russia’s Ust-Luga oil terminal in the Baltic Sea on Wednesday. One veered off the road and crashed into a power plant chimney in eastern Estonia, while another crashed and exploded in Latvia. Authorities in Lithuania reported on Monday about the crash of a Ukrainian drone. No one was injured in the incidents.
Although the region is no stranger to the realities of war, now in its fifth year, the initial failure to contain the threat and warn the population has sparked a heated public debate about the preparedness of the Baltic states.
Estonia’s national grid operator said on Friday it planned to build new concrete defenses around electrical infrastructure, while the country’s former military commander Martin Herem told state broadcaster ERR that anything within 50 kilometers of the Russian border would be difficult to defend against air attacks.
“It is safe to assume that we will encounter similar incidents again,” said Margo Palloson, head of Estonia’s domestic intelligence services.
Moscow operatives were quick to seize on the latest incident as claims spread that Ukrainian drones were flying deep through Baltic airspace on their way to attack Russia. A picture of the alleged flight path appeared in Russian state media.
Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro dismissed this as untrue in an interview with the Delfi news website on Friday. While Tallinn supports Ukraine’s self-defense, it is not a party to the war, he said.
NATO’s three eastern flank members have increased defense spending in recent years to deter potential threats. Russian fighter jets have repeatedly violated the airspace of the Baltic countries. Last year, Poland took the unprecedented step of shooting down Russian drones that entered its airspace during a wave of Russian strikes on neighboring Ukraine.
The Baltic states have poured money into sensors, radars, jamming devices and anti-drone systems to meet the challenge.
However, the advantages of such sophisticated equipment are undermined by the fact that in peacetime visual confirmation is first required before attempting to shoot down drones, Kaspars Pudans, commander of the Latvian Armed Forces, told Latvian state television.
While the skies over the Baltic states are being patrolled by jets from NATO allies, those planes could only respond if the drones were deeper in Estonian airspace, military commander Andrus Merilo said. According to him, fighters were unnecessary for the defense of the area near the power plant, which is right on the Russian border.
Ukrainian strikes have repeatedly forced the closure of St. Petersburg’s airspace, the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported. According to Fintraffic, about 20 to 30 flights a day had to be diverted through Finnish airspace. These were mostly Turkish and Chinese carriers allowed to use European skies, aviation authorities said.
Baltic officials have said that even the best anti-drone systems cannot provide a watertight defense along the entire border.
“This is simply not possible,” Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds told Latvian television on Friday, “no country can do this.”
With help from Milda Seputyte and Kirsi Heikel.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
