Russia denies Estonia's accusations of MiG-31 airspace violation
The Russian Defense Ministry explained that on September 19, the MiG-31 fighters performed a scheduled flight.
According to Kosomolskaya Pravda (Youth Truth - KP) on September 20, the Russian Defense Ministry on the same day denied allegations that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had violated Estonian airspace. The statement was posted on the Ministry's Telegram channel.
According to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, on September 19, three MiG-31 fighters performed a scheduled flight from Karelia to the Kaliningrad Region. Moreover, all operations were carried out strictly according to regulations. No violations of airspace were mentioned.
"The flight was carried out in strict accordance with international airspace regulations and did not violate the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Estonia reported a violation of its airspace on the evening of September 19. At the same time, Tallinn summoned the charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy to the Foreign Ministry to hand over a diplomatic note of protest over the alleged violation of Estonian airspace by Russian MiG-31 fighter jets. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets allegedly violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and remained there for 12 minutes.
For its part, the Polish border guard claimed that two Russian fighter jets allegedly flew at low altitude over the Petrobaltik oil rig in the Baltic Sea, outside the country's territorial waters, without providing any evidence.
Commenting on the incident, US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with reports of Russian aircraft allegedly violating Estonian airspace.
"I don't like it. I don't like it when it happens, it could cause big trouble, but I'll let you know specifically later" - President Donald Trump told reporters at a press conference at the White House on September 19 (Washington time).
The US leader added that he would soon receive a briefing on the matter.