Russia’s drone blame game fails to split Ukraine from its Baltic allies

PRAGUE — Russia is trying to turn a string of stray combat drones appearing over the Baltic countries into a political crisis between Ukraine and some of its staunchest allies. So far, the effort appears to have fallen flat. After a wave of drone incidents across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — blamed on Russia using electronic warfare to redirect Ukrainian drones into NATO airspace — Moscow accused the three Baltic countries of allowing Ukraine to use their airspace for attacks on Russia and th

Baltic officials denied the charges. A statement issued by the three governments late Friday said they “categorically reject Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and its fabricated accusations following the airspace violations, which Russia shamelessly uses to mask its military failures.” “This is wrong,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said of Moscow’s accusations at the POLITICO Speakeasy at GLOBSEC , adding that “Ukraine has never asked to use our airspace.” He said Estonia has asked Ukraine to be careful in how it targets its attacks against Russia, but put the blame for any drone incidents squarely on Moscow. “The reason behind that is the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and the reason behind that is that Russia is using the electronic warfare to manipulate the data and also to impact the flight path of these drones,” he said. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also underlined that Russia is to blame. “If drones come from Ukraine, they are not there because Ukraine wanted to send a drone to Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia,” he told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday. “They are there because of the reckless, illegal full-scale attack by Russia.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Moscow menacing the Baltics “completely unacceptable,” underlining that a threat against one EU member state was a threat against the entire bloc. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also weighed in, accusing Moscow of targeting the Baltics with “absurd Russian allegations and dangerous threats.” Speaking at POLITICO’s Speakeasy, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová argued that Europe should see Ukraine not as a burden, but as central to its future defense architecture. Look at the counterfactual,” Mathernová said. “Imagine they’re not with us, but against us.” Pevkur put the point even more bluntly from the Baltic perspective: “Supporting Ukraine is not charity, it’s an investment in our own security.” The solidarity matters because the drone problem is real. In recent weeks, Baltic countries have seen air defense alerts, temporary flight restrictions and military responses. Earlier this week, a Romanian F-16 operating under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a drone over Estonia. This week, Lithuania temporarily suspended air traffic at Vilnius airport and sent lawmakers underground after a drone alert.

Key points

• Baltic officials denied the charges.
• A statement issued by the three governments late Friday said they “categorically reject Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and its fabricated accusations following the airspace violations, wh…
• “The reason behind that is the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and the reason behind that is that Russia is using the electronic warfare to manipulate the data and also to impact the flight p…
• NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also underlined that Russia is to blame.
• “If drones come from Ukraine, they are not there because Ukraine wanted to send a drone to Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia,” he told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.