Estonia Says Russian Plane Again Violates Airspace

This latest incident comes after Estonia said a Russian military plane violated its airspace in March. (file photo)

Estonia's military says a Russian aircraft has violated its airspace for the second time this year and following several such incidents in 2016 and 2017.

Estonian officials on June 21 said the violation occurred near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland and involved a Tupolev-154M plane belonging to Russia's Interior Ministry.

The officials of the NATO nation added that the plane spent about one minute in Estonian airspace near midday on June 20.

They added that the plane had not presented a flight plan and had no radio contact with Estonia's air-navigation system.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry said it summoned Russia's ambassador over the incident.

On March 12, Estonia said a Russian military Il-76 cargo plane had violated its airspace near Vaindloo.

Vaindloo is near a corridor where Russian military and cargo planes fly to get from the St. Petersburg area to the Russian Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad.

Based on reporting by AP, The Baltic Times, and Interfax