Estonia to hand over tens of millions of euros worth of drones to Ukraine this week

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur. Photo by Valentyna Polishchuk, Channel 24

Estonia will hand over a batch of drones worth tens of millions of euros to Ukraine this week.

This was announced by Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur on 15 October before the meeting of NATO defence ministers, according to «Ukrinform».

He noted that due to the reduction of military assistance to Ukraine from other partners, including the United States, Estonia decided to increase its support.

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«This week, we will also hand over many drones worth tens of millions in addition to what we have already done,» Hanno Pevkur said.

In addition, the country will join the Nordic-Baltic PURL assistance package, under which the Nordic and Baltic states are preparing a new package of support for Ukraine. According to the Minister, Estonia's contribution will amount to USD 12 million.

Hanno Pevkur also said that Estonia is already producing interceptor drones, and that they are scheduled to be tested next week.

The minister stressed that Ukrainian air defence currently fails to intercept about 20-25% of enemy drones, while Russia is already using new models «Geranium-3» with jet engines.

He also commented on the recent violation of Estonian airspace by Russian aircraft, which led Tallinn to initiate consultations under Article 4 of the NATO Charter.

«As we can see, Russia acted deliberately ... that they did not follow the orders of our air traffic controllers and fighter jets. If someone stays in NATO airspace for twelve minutes, it shows that it is a really long time, and we had to react,» said Hanno Pevkur.

The Minister noted that air patrols are very important, particularly in the Baltic States. He also called for looking at what else could be done to strengthen it together with the eastern flank of the Alliance.