Estonia Protests Russian Air Violation

Estonian officials say a Russian military aircraft violated Estonian airspace over the Baltic Sea this week.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mari-Liis Valter said that the ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on June 26 to formally protest the incursion.

Valter says a Russian Antonov An-26 aircraft strayed from its reported flight plan on June 22 and entered Estonian airspace without permission near the island of Vaindloo.

She said the incursion lasted for less than a minute.

The island is near a corridor Russian military planes fly through to get from the St. Petersburg area to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Meanwhile, Finland said it suspected a Russian military plane crossed into its airspace on June 26.

Finland's Defense Ministry said the plane was spotted south of the Finnish city of Porvoo and identified as a Russian Air Force IL-76 transport plane.

The nations around the Baltic Sea have reported repeated airspace violations by Russian aircraft in recent years amid increasing military activity by both NATO and Russian forces in the region.

Based on reporting by AP