NATO nation reports suspected Ukrainian drone crash

An unidentified UAV has crashed and exploded in Estonia, the country’s national security service has said

The remains of a crashed UAV have been discovered in a field in southern Estonia. The country’s authorities suspect that it was a “combat drone” which originated in Ukraine and had been sent to attack installations in Russia.

The discovery was made by a local farmer on Sunday, the head of Estonia’s Internal Security Service (ISS/KAPO), Margo Palloson, said during a press conference on Tuesday. The drone exploded in the open, inflicting no injuries or material damage. 

“Based on very preliminary data, we have reason to believe that this may be a Ukrainian drone that was targeted at inland Russian sites but was diverted from its course by Russia’s GPS jamming and other electronic warfare measures,” Palloson stated, adding that “there is nothing to indicate that it could be a Russian drone.”

The drone disintegrated into small bits and left a “clearly identifiable post-explosion crater” at the scene, he added. The authorities are still investigating where exactly the projectile came from, believing it could have traveled either from Lithuanian or Russian airspace, Palloson noted.

If suspicions prove true, the incident will have marked the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict that a stray military drone has reached Estonia. The two other Baltic nations, Latvia and Estonia, have repeatedly reported various UAV crashes.

Earlier this month, Lithuania reported the discovery of a drone which was said to have flown into the country from neighboring Belarus. 

The country’s authorities identified it as a Russian Gerbera drone, a smaller cousin of the Geran-2 kamikaze UAV which primarily serves as a decoy for anti-aircraft defenses. The Russian military has made no public comments on the incident.

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