On May 30, Estonian authorities announced plans to install fixed drone-monitoring systems along its borders with Russia and Latvia. The announcement came after a Russian drone exploded on striking an apartment building in Galati, Romania, and several incidents of detections of UAVs in the Baltics.
According to Estonian media, drone detectors have been installed in three sections of the border, particularly in the border town of Luhamaa and at the tri-national border between Estonia, Latvia, and Russia.
In the last few months, several drones have illegally entered the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Most caught UAVs were disoriented Ukrainian drones that had their GPS jammed or hacked by Russian interference. The Kremlin, meanwhile, has accused the Baltic states of allowing Ukrainian drones to travel in their airspace.
On May 19, NATO forces in Estonia shot down a Russian UAV that entered the country’s airspace. On May 20, Lithuanian authorities issued a shelter alert in Vilnius after drone activity was detected near the border with Belarus. On May 21, Lithuania and Latvia detected activity in their airspace again. The Baltic countries blame Moscow for the incidents, but the Kremlin has denied involvement.
According to Estonian Minister of the Interior Igor Taro, the first units of the fixed UAV detection system have been installed and are operating. “This is only the beginning,” Taro said. “We are advancing towards a network that will cover all of Estonia.”