Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tzahkna said on 15 May that a Russian fighter jet had covered the UK-sanctioned oil tanker Jaguar in the Baltic Sea from the Estonian Navy, which was attempting to seize the vessel.
The incident took place on the afternoon of 14 May.
Tsahkna told reporters in the Turkish city of Antalya, where he is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, that a Russian fighter jet violated Estonian airspace for almost a minute.
He called the situation serious and said that Russia poses a threat “not only with its military actions in Ukraine, but much more widely.”
The day before, officials in Estonia reported that they had tried to stop a Gabon-flagged vessel, suspected to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.
The tanker ignored the order and left Estonian waters. On the morning of 15 May, the vessel entered the Russian port of Primorsk, according to data from the Marinetraffic service. On the evening of 14 May, a Russian Su-35 flew in Estonian airspace, the country’s army said, without linking the incidents.
Earlier this month, the UK government placed on sanctions lists about 100 tankers in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet involved in transporting oil to circumvent restrictions. In a press release, the government said the sanctioned tankers form the core of Russia’s shadow fleet exporting oil. They have transported $24 billion worth of oil since the beginning of 2024.