The United States Mission to NATO accused Russia of violating Estonian airspace, emphasizing its full solidarity with Tallinn and the alliance's readiness to defend every inch of its territory. The incident occurred amid growing tensions on NATO's eastern flank.

"We strongly condemn Russia's violation of Estonian airspace. We stand firmly with our Estonian allies and will resolutely defend all NATO territory." — said the official statement from the US mission, published on Saturday evening.

The statement followed a report by the Estonian Air Force about the detection of a Russian aircraft that entered national airspace for several minutes near the island of Hiiumaa.

The Estonian Ministry of Defence confirmed the violation, noting that the incident was recorded by radar and was accompanied by the scramble of NATO Air Policing fighter jets to intercept it.

Russia, in turn, denied the accusations, stating that the flight took place in international airspace.