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On Friday, Russian jets violated Nato airspace by entering Estonian territory, described by officials as a “brazen” event — marking the third such airborne incident targeting an eastern Nato member within a little over a week.

Three MiG-31 fighter jets flew above the Baltic country for 12 minutes on Friday, prompting Nato to send Italian F-35 fighter jets in response.

Both European and Nato authorities denounced the incident, especially following the shooting down of Russian drones by Nato aircraft when they ventured into Polish airspace last week — representing the first direct altercation between the western defense alliance and Russian military units since Russia’s comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Nato announced on Friday that it had taken immediate action by “intercepting the Russian aircraft,” emphasizing: “This is yet another instance of reckless Russian behavior, demonstrating Nato’s capability to respond,” a representative noted.

On Friday night, Estonia’s government announced it would be requesting consultations under Nato Article 4. Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated: “Such a violation is completely inappropriate, and Nato’s reaction to any provocation must be cohesive and robust. We deem it crucial to discuss with our Allies to ensure mutual situational awareness and align on our subsequent collaborative actions.”

Margus Tsahkna, the foreign affairs minister, confirmed the request, stating: “Given Russia’s increasingly frequent provocations, we find it necessary to initiate Nato Article 4 consultations to discuss the Alliance’s future actions.”

Moreover, on Friday evening, the Polish military mentioned on X that Russian fighter jets were observed performing “a low flyover near the Petrobaltic extraction platform,” an offshore rig located in Polish waters.

Russian planes have briefly flown into Estonian airspace before, but the incident on Friday morning was unusually long.

Estonia said on Friday it had summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires over the incident.

Tsahkna said: “Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.”

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat and a former Estonian premier, said: “Today’s violation of Estonia’s airspace by Russian military aircraft is an extremely dangerous provocation. This marks the third such violation of EU airspace in days and further escalates tensions in the region.”

US President Donald Trump addressed the incursion late on Friday, saying: “I don’t love it, I don’t love it . . . Could be big trouble.”

After the Polish incursion last week, Nato jets intercepted a Russian drone in Romania last weekend that had breached allied airspace.

Baltic diplomats say Moscow is increasingly provoking Nato to show its weaknesses, especially in terms of air defences.

“Russia directly threatens Euro-Atlantic security and tests Nato’s limits . . . These are not accidents,” said Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign minister. “The alliance is being tested militarily. We must sharpen Nato’s posture to the point where no one dares to test our deterrence.”

Nato said last week it would move more fighter jets and air defence systems to states on its eastern flank in response to the Kremlin’s provocations. But diplomats say Nato cannot afford to use $500,000 missiles and multimillion-dollar fighter jets to combat swarms of $20,000 drones.

Budrys and many other Baltic officials want Nato to upgrade its air defences to include jamming and cheaper ways of shooting down drones. The EU has announced it would make more funding available to set up a “drone wall” on its eastern borders, including with technology developed and battle-tested in Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly made brief forays into Baltic airspace for more than a decade as well as other provocations, including practising a nuclear attack on Stockholm in 2013.

Additional reporting by Steff Chávez in Washington