On Saturday, the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) released a graphic that depicted the Russian MiG-31 fighter planes’ flight route during their Friday morning breach of Estonian airspace.
The map shows the three MiG-31 supersonic interceptors traveling east to west along the Estonian border and generally toward the Tallinn region.
In the vicinity of the uninhabited island of Vaindloo, the Russian aircraft entered Estonian airspace without permission and stayed there for 12 minutes. Their transponders were off, and the planes had no flight plans submitted.
As part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets based at Ämari Air Base in northern Estonia reacted to the incident by escorting the three aircraft out of Estonian airspace and southward toward the Kaliningrad exclave.
Following a significant Russian drone invasion of Polish airspace last week, there have been several minor intrusions over Poland and Romania.
As Poland did last week after the drone flights, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Friday that the Estonian government has asked NATO to speak with it under Article 4.
The fourth Russian aircraft invasion of Estonian airspace this year was noteworthy because it lasted for several minutes longer than other instances, which all used military airplanes rather than drones. More than 40 Russian aircraft have entered Estonian airspace since 2014.