Nato F-16 jet ‘shoots down Ukrainian drone’ over Estonia as Russia warns of retaliation – Daily Star<\/title><meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ukraine has apologised for the "unintended incident" after a NATO F-16 jet reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia, as Russia warned of retaliation if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries\"\/><meta name=\"author\" content=\"Simon Hamalienko\"\/><meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edward Easton\"\/><link rel=\"manifest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/manifest.json?v=6f7ed9d5128d770b\"\/><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noarchive, max-image-preview:large\"\/><meta name=\"Googlebot-News\" content=\"noarchive\"\/><meta name=\"referrer\" content=\"unsafe-URL\"\/><meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"drone, Russia\"\/><meta name=\"news_keywords\" content=\"drone, Russia\"\/><link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/nato-f-16-jet-shoots-37178338\"\/><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nato jet 'shoots down Ukrainian drone' over Estonia amid Russia warning\"\/><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ukraine has apologised for the "unintended incident" after a NATO F-16 jet reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia, as Russia warned of retaliation if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries\"\/><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/nato-f-16-jet-shoots-37178338\"\/><meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Star\"\/><meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\"\/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200d\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg\"\/><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"\/><meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T16:09:19Z\"\/><meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T16:09:19Z\"\/><meta property=\"article:author\" 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content=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg\"\/><link rel=\"shortcut icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/nav-web-static\/main-52153547c3861059d697ea261350bcc85b5e74a6\/public\/assets\/dailystar\/favicon.ico\"\/><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/nav-web-static\/main-52153547c3861059d697ea261350bcc85b5e74a6\/public\/assets\/dailystar\/tokens\/s-v2.css\" media=\"screen and (max-width: 727px)\"\/><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/nav-web-static\/main-52153547c3861059d697ea261350bcc85b5e74a6\/public\/assets\/dailystar\/tokens\/m-v2.css\" media=\"screen and (min-width: 728px) and (max-width: 1023px)\"\/><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/nav-web-static\/main-52153547c3861059d697ea261350bcc85b5e74a6\/public\/assets\/dailystar\/tokens\/l-v2.css\" media=\"screen and (min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1239px)\"\/><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/nav-web-static\/main-52153547c3861059d697ea261350bcc85b5e74a6\/public\/assets\/dailystar\/tokens\/xl-v2.css\" media=\"screen and (min-width: 1240px)\"\/><link href=\"https:\/\/premium.express.co.uk\/css\/cop-dailystar.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\"\/><\/head><body class=\"__className_93f611 \" id=\"wp_automatic_ReadabilityBody\"><main class=\"MainWrapper_main__SxbuQ\" id=\"main-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"NeedToKnowTemplate_wrapper__KqbPM\">\n<div class=\"NeedToKnowTemplate_inner-wrapper__WsEIl\">\n<nav class=\"Breadcrumb_breadcrumb-nav__xTgNR\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"NeedToKnowTemplate_page-label__p5uqb\">Need to know<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_93f611\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Ukraine has apologised for the “unintended incident” after a NATO F-16 jet reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia, as Russia warned of retaliation if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37178337\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Romanian Air Force participates in the Tactical Leadership Programme in Albacete, Spain, on September 24, 2024. (Photo by Joan Valls\/Urbanandsport \/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Photo by Urbanandsport\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article37178337.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Tactical-Leadership-Programme-in-Albacete.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Romanian deployed a F-16 jet to the incident (file)\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Romanian deployed a F-16 jet to the incident (file)<cite aria-label=\"Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"HeadingThree_heading-three__PBHLs __className_93f611\">Ukrainian drone shot down over Estonia – need to know<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia after Russia issued chilling warnings about retaliation against Baltic nations.<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">Ukraine apologised for the “unintended incident” on May 19, with Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur explaining: “Given the trajectory of the drone, we decided that we need to take it down.”<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">The drone was “most probably meant to hit some Russian targets,” Pevkur told The Associated Press, marking the latest in a string of incidents where Ukrainian drones have strayed into NATO territory.<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">Western officials blame Russian electronic jamming for causing the weapons to veer off course as Ukraine ramps up drone raids on energy facilities and arms factories deep inside Russia.<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned that Ukraine is preparing to launch drone attacks from Baltic territory, threatening “just retribution” and claiming NATO membership won’t protect Latvia.<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">The tensions have already caused political upheaval, with Latvia’s government collapsing last week after the defence minister was forced to quit over handling multiple stray drone incidents.<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman said experts from both countries are working on prevention measures, apologising “to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents.”<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">READ THE FULL STORY: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/breaking-nato-jet-shoots-down-37177498\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">NATO jet ‘shoots down drone’ in ‘unintended incident’ after Russia’s Baltic threat<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section data-testid=\"social-follow\" class=\"SocialFollowBar_wrapper__h4k_D SocialFollowBar_left__oJoLE false undefined\">Follow dailystar:<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"RHRBlock_h-line__hVhY7\"\/>\n<aside class=\"RHRBlock_right-aside-wrapper__tM2wc\">\n<p><span aria-live=\"polite\" aria-busy=\"true\"><span class=\"react-loading-skeleton\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;--base-color:#88888810;--highlight-color:#8888880d\">\u200c<\/span><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span aria-live=\"polite\" 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