According to the Russian commander, the Su-35 “shielded” tanker-previously escorted by the Estonian Navy towards Russia-for about 2.5 hours, and during this operation he violated the airspace of Estonia and NATO for about a minute.
In response to the F-16 Portuguese Air Force fighter incident, stationed in the AMARI base as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission, they made a reconnaissance flight.
The Russian Air Force, apart from violating the space, “operated professionally, i.e. they did not perform flights on a low ceiling,” admitted General Karus, presenting the ETV television program a sequence of events that took place on Tuesday evening in the Finnish Bay.
The Estonian Navy with the support of a reconnaissance and pattern aircraft and helicopter escorted the Jaguar tanker, heading to Primorsk in the Leningrad region and declaring Gabon as a state of Bandera. Gabon authorities, however, informed Estonian services that they deprived the ship of rights to swim under their flag from May 10, after Great Britain imposed sanctions on him.
Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on a Russian diplomat
When the ship was flowed into the exclusive economic zone of Estonia – explained General Karus – Navy, began to call the unit to determine its status. It was intention to direct the ship to an anchor to check the flag and insurance. Although the ship did not respond to orders, the Estonian services “did not intend to board the unit” – he emphasized.
It was considered that the ship should be derived from Estonian waters to Russian to avoid any threat to underwater infrastructure, including Estonian-Finnish ESTLINK 1 energy cable with 350 MW. The ESTLINK 2 cable (with a capacity of 650 MW) was damaged by the anchor of another Eagle S tanker, belonging to the Russian shadow fleet at the end of last year at Christmas. Its repair is to end in mid -July.
In connection with the violation of the airspace, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Russian Chargé d'Affaires in Tallinn to give him a diplomatic note. “The violation of the space by the Russian fighter to protect the shadow fleet tanker is a real example of the serious threat that Russia poses to NATO as a whole,” said the head of Estonian diplomacy Margus Tsahkna.
