Russia has rejected claims that it violated NATO’s airspace as “hysteria”, a day after US President Donald Trump said the allies should shoot down Russian jets if they violate their territory.
NATO countries say multiple Russian fighter jets and drones have violated European member states’ airspace in recent weeks, accusing Moscow of testing the alliance’s boundaries.
“We hear such exaggerated hysteria about our military pilots allegedly violating some rules and invading someone’s airspace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the claims were “unfounded”.
Earlier, Sweden, the latest entrant to the NATO Alliance, has signalled that it would not shy away from using military force against Russian fighter jets or drones if they violate Swedish airspace.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson told Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet that Sweden has the right to defend its airspace and would use military force if necessary.
“No country has the right to violate Swedish airspace. Sweden has the right to defend its airspace, with force if needed, and will defend it,” Jonson said.
He added that the Swedish military is authorized to use military force in response to airspace violations under the IKFN directive. This includes the authority to employ force “with or without prior warning.”
On September 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets, designated carriers of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, flew into Estonian airspace via the Gulf of Finland. The jets circled for about 12 minutes before NATO scrambled Italian F-35s to chase them away.
Here is a map regarding Estonian airspace violation by 🇷🇺.
🔹 The violation took place over the Gulf of Finland.
🔹 The 3x MiG-31 flew parallel to the 🇪🇪 state border from east to west and entered 🇪🇪 airspace to a depth of less than 10 km.
🔹 NATO🇮🇹 fighters escorted them out. pic.twitter.com/Df7pdPltbt— MoD Estonia (@MoD_Estonia) September 20, 2025
Before this, about 20 Russian drones had entered Poland in what was the single largest breach of the Polish airspace. In a separate incident, a few drones had illegally flown in Romania’s airspace.
These repeated incursions have been seen as a Russian attempt at testing NATO and have triggered an angry response across the alliance.
Estonia, on its part, responded to the provocation by invoking Article 4 of NATO, which calls for an emergency NATO consultation whenever the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of any member of the alliance is threatened.
The comments by the Swedish Defense Minister follow similar assertions made by Polish and British leaders. Speaking at the emergency meeting called to discuss the Estonia airspace violation, Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said, “If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on Nato territory, please don’t come here to whine about it.”
Separately, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned, “I want to be very clear. We will decide to shoot down flying objects without discussion when they violate our territory and fly over Poland. There is no room for debate here.”
The sentiment has been echoed by the United Kingdom. “These latest acts are dangerous and reckless,” said the British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper. “We stand ready to take all steps necessary to defend Nato skies and Nato’s territory … If we need to confront planes operating in Nato airspace without permission, we will.”
Russia has vehemently opposed claims that its military jets violated Estonia’s airspace, accusing Tallinn of having no evidence to support its assertion.
“We never heard in the Estonian statement that they have objective monitoring data [to back up their claim],” Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “That is why we consider such words to be empty, unfounded, and a continuation of a completely reckless pattern of escalating tensions and provoking a confrontational atmosphere.”
However, anger and frustration continue to brew among NATO partners to militarily respond to Russia if it violates NATO sovereignty again.
For instance, an Estonian lawmaker, Marko Mihkelson, referred to the shoot down of a Russian jet by NATO member Turkey in 2015, to make a case for shooting down the intruding jets next time.
When Turkey Shot Down A Russian Jet
The incident goes back to 2015, when tensions were running high between Russia and Turkey due to the alleged repeated violations of Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes during the latter’s intervention in the Syrian war.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned at the time that Russia was in danger of “losing” Turkey.
“NATO has issued a stern ultimatum,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying. “We cannot endure it. Some steps that we do not desire are being taken. It is not suitable for Turkey to accept them. This is also beyond the principles of NATO.”
In October 2015, the Turkish military claimed that a MiG fighter jet had locked its radar on Turkish warplanes and harassed a Turkish squadron of F-16s patrolling the Syrian border. Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defence said a Su-30 fighter plane briefly entered Turkish airspace by accident.
Days later, the unprecedented shootdown occurred.
On the fateful day of November 24, 2015, two Russian Sukhoi Su-24M2 Fencer aircraft allegedly entered the Turkish airspace. But one of them never made it out.
According to reports, two Su-24M2 belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) had taken off to hit ISIS positions in Syria. However, one of these Su-aircraft was shot down by an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-To-Air Missile (AMRAAM) fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Even though the fighter did nothing to threaten the security of the NATO country, it was shot down within 17 seconds of entering Turkish airspace in a historic event that could have threatened to escalate into a wider war.
The Turkish military released an official statement at the time: “Two F-16 planes on aerial patrol duty in the area intervened against the plane in question in accordance with the rules of engagement at 9.24 am.”
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, claimed that the incident was an ambush as no warning shots were fired before the plane was brought down. However, Turkey said that the aircraft that entered its airspace was warned ten times before the missile was launched.
Turkey claimed that one aircraft allegedly broke Turkish national airspace and escaped, while the other was shot down by Turkish F-16s cruising the area and crashed into Syrian territory after being hit in Turkish airspace.
Meanwhile, the Russian President Vladimir Putin took a completely different position and said that the attack occurred while the Russian combat plane was within one kilometer (0.62 miles) of Syria.
Despite the accusations and rebuttals, the event had significant ramifications since it was the first time a NATO state’s military had shot down a Russian aircraft since the 1950s.
Lieutenant Colonel Peshkov, the pilot, and Captain Murakhtin, the weapon system operator, instantly ejected from the Su-24M2 as the missile struck it. However, the militants operating in the border area are said to have fired at them.
In the aftermath of the incident, Ankara claimed that the Russian aircraft did not answer the warnings issued on the mutually agreed radio channel and the international air distress channel as it continued to fly towards Turkish airspace.
The Russian jet’s surviving pilot later denied the allegations, stating that the plane did not breach Turkish airspace and that no warning had been given.
Putin called the act a “stab in the back committed by accomplices of terrorists.”
A radar analysis of the Russian jet’s flight path was released by Turkey, revealing that it passed over a spur of southern Turkish territory that protrudes into northern Syria. The Turkish graphic claimed that the Russian plane reached the southern tip of Hatay Province and then crashed near Turkmen Mountain.
Nevertheless, Russia denied all of Turkey’s claims and threatened to cut bilateral ties.
The incident sparked a phase of hostilities between Turkey and Russia. The Russian Foreign Minister, who was scheduled to visit Ankara to smooth ties and boost cooperation, canceled his trip. Both sides summoned each other’s diplomats and severed military ties.
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