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| The Mil Mi-8 Russian military helicopter (photo is illustrative) |
International Military - Estonia summoned the Russian ambassador on Tuesday (21/6/2022) to protest the "very serious" violation of its airspace by Russian helicopters. This is the second offense in less than two weeks.
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the helicopter flew over a point in the southeast without permission on June 18. "Estonia considers this a very serious and regrettable incident, which undoubtedly causes additional tension and is completely unacceptable," the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Estonia repeated calls for Russian troops to leave Ukraine. "Russia must stop threatening its neighbors and understand that the price of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine is indeed high," he added.
Estonia also expressed solidarity with fellow Baltic nation Lithuania, which Moscow says will be punished for banning the transit of some goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
A key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told Lithuania it would suffer the pain of banning the transit of EU-approved goods across its territory to and from Kaliningrad.
Estonia also complained to the envoy on June 10 about Putin's praise for 18th-century Russian rulers who captured a city that is now Estonia.
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia belonged to the Russian empire before gaining independence after World War I. In 1940 the Soviet Union annexed the trio, who did not regain their independence until 1991.