Public sentiment surrounding NATO's response to Russia's airspace violations is fundamentally negative, characterized by frustration, urgency for decisive military action, and a belief in NATO's failure to protect member states. Many commenters express fears of further Russian provocations if NATO does not demonstrate strength, with references to past successful military deterrents by Turkey. The consensus underscores an alarming desire for immediate action to validate NATO's commitments and deter Russian aggression.

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Ukraine

Seems like Russian planes went 5 nautical miles into Estonian territory and then circled around for 12 minutes before being chased away by Italian F-35 jets.
[source](https://www.politico.eu/article/russian-fighter-jets-breach-estonian-airspace-near-tallinn/)

Tommysynthistheway

unacceptable. Estonia has every right to be alarmed these violations cant be ignored NATO ‘nneeds to take these provocations seriously

MilkyLava

Wasn't no fly zone declared in parts of Estonia?

LoonyFruit

Heads up. I just got a warning from Reddit for calling the Jets to be shot down,

wRm_

Nato anti air defence yet again nowhere to be seen

Illyuha_Pampuha

Anyone else get the feeling Russians are instigating just to go, “see?! See?! They attacked us!!!”

Like a drunk constantly shoving someone for a reaction and when they finally get roundhoused they b*tch about it. 

It’s so their victim play book. And then India and Brazil will just roll their eyes and complain about the west.

Ant0n61

Are dumbasses gonna say that it was actually Ukraine this time around too?

Specialist-Stuff6255

Mmmm the timing of these incidents is interesting. Yesterday Ukraine hit one the most important oil refineries in Russia. Since Ukraine started its aerial campaign against Russian oil refineries we’ve seen the most severe Russian bombardments in Ukraine and the violation of European air space by Russia.

I think this whole thing is about Russia becoming increasingly desperate to stop the Ukrainian air campaign and they’re trying to scare Europe to see if that’ll force us to say Ukraine to stop bombing their oil refineries. 

Just a few days ago Putin said something like “I’ve ordered economic growth to stop so inflation recedes” which means that Russia economy is going to hell probably. There are some economists that in recent days have said that the attack on oil refineries is hurting their economy beyond expected and that an economic crisis of big proportions is starting to unfold in Russia. 

Even though I understand the anger and the temptation to shoot those planes down, I think we have to keep our heads cool. This is only a provocation and shooting those planes down will play in Putin’s hands in a moment he’s becoming weaker and weaker. What Poland did last week was actually very clever because closing the Belarusian border will further add pressure to the already receding Russian economy. Our response to this should be to help Ukraine to keep its campaign on Russian energy infrastructure.

However we must bear in mind that the most desperate they become, the more unpredictable they’ll become, so we have to brace ourselves for some very dangerous months.

Here are some of my sources:

https://www.euronews.com/2025/09/19/ukraine-has-hit-the-nail-on-the-head-with-strikes-on-russian-oil-industry-economist-says

https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-says-russia-is-curbing-economic-growth-control-inflation-recession-far-2025-09-18/

https://youtu.be/Vry3LUdkjIM?feature=shared

Enlightenment1789

Shoot them down. Absolute cowards. Turkey shows what to do, you shoot them down. No Russians are flying into Turkish airspace these days.

Angryferret

Probing for weaknesses with these flights. They found one today.

Educational-Tone2074

Looks like NATO is also a paper tiger... 12 fucking minutes, they could easily do a bombing run and run away before anyone even notices.

breidaks

Russian here.

I don't personally think Russia is doing these and the drone provocations to escalate a conflict - Russia knows too well the EU is not ready to fight at this moment in time (as it has shown many times), so the chances of escalation are very low.

Much more likely that Russia is doing it to divert the EU's attention in terms of resources to itself, away from Ukraine. "Look, you are defenseless, so better leave all those Patriot missile systems for yourself, and not give them to Ukraine". More armaments in Poland, Estonia, and Finland means fewer armaments in Ukraine.   
  
And considering that the EU strategy with Ukraine so far has been "Let's keep Russia distracted with Ukraine as long as possible without any escalation from our side while we slowly get ready", it might just work.

Dacadey

Honestly I'm starting to believe Russia is doing this to actually create a reaction that escalate the conflict to say see Nato is at war with us to then strike a peace deal by bowing out gracefully, admitting you can't beat Nato is less embarrassing to the home front then saying you can't beat Ukraine.

Geraltpoonslayer

**"someone unknown" is spuffing gps signal there, they simply got lost.**

thats my prediction for responce

bhaaad

Schalker45

3 Mig-31 flying on NATO airspace for 12 minutes with transponders off. They can carry nuclear weapons with Kinzhal (Kh-47M2) and were heading towards Tallinn the capital.

NeilDeCrash

I do find it even funny(in a sad way). It is literally "Boy who cried Wolf" tactic:
Start making micro territorial incursions - 1-2 drones here, 10-20 drones there, airplanes near capitals here, make target get used to incursion events. 

Then when you will actually need to strike, your airships and drones will be welcomed to do whatever they want to, as countries would be acustomed to your "peaceful" occasional incursions.

SamuelWillmore

When they did the same in Turkey, them Turks didn’t fuck around and russia lost one jet.

Bonkers_Reality

i thought there was a no-fly zone over estonia after the drone incident in poland??? if countries allow enemy planes to fly over what they have declared as a no-fly zone that kind of defeats the whole purpose doesn't it?

fatbreadslut

The should have been shot down. Turkey showed spine when Russian jets violated their airspace. It’s time the rest of nato shows spine too

Aromatic-Deer3886

Russia has a pretty long history of violating the Finnish airspace, in my opinion shooting them down isn't the best course of action since it's most likely nothing.

Mundane_Situation136

Ok_Photo_865

NATO needs to start shooting these planes down.

Quill07

Wouldnt Russia shoot down our jets if we violated their air space? Why arent we shooting their down?

localcannon

Not sure what the intent is. I doubt they will actually go to war with NATO, they know they will lose. What I think they are trying to do is - provoke NATO to respond in some way, enough for borders to be closed to the extent it will be impossible for Russian men to escape the country. Iron Curtain on steroids

caringisfree

They did this because they could and know that nothing will happen, Article 4 means nothing for them, and they know that by doing this, they will cause chaos.

hungry_parrot

Really cool, now that nothing has happened and there being no consequences we can move on now until this happens again and there will nothing happening again and no consequences again so we will move on then until this happens again and there will be no consequences again

AkiBismarck

Fucking Putin testing boarders in the middle of a war. The fucker is relentless

astralseat

tachyon534

I think Turkey, on average violates Greek air space like 1.500 times a year. Should they should them down as well??

Unfair-Frame9096

The Russian military leadership is systematically probing NATO (Poland, Estonia, Romania, Finland, plus Zapad 2025 excercise) with the intention of gaining intelligence on what gear we operate, how fast our response is and how wee respond politically and diplomatically. In other words, they're gatherings intelligence to decide whether or when to attack.

These are no provocations, these are very clever strategic operations.

chakraman108

I think we(Sweden) should park our JAS Gripen near(er) the Russian border, Norway can do our airspace while our (awesome) farmer jets which can be operated anywhere you have a few 100m of somewhat straight road go fend of the Russians, they're really cheap per flight-hour too! :) 

BrunkerQueen

isupposethiswillwork

NATO should shot the jets down. Multiple airspace violations are no accident.

dud3FPS

Electrical_Crew7195

where the fuck is NATO

this is embarrassing

Docccc

They're climbing the escalation ladder with this one

Agent_Stormbird

Article 4 has been triggered by Estonia. Only the 9th time since NATO's founding. This is the second time this month

LubberwortPicaroon

Putin wants NATO to keep air defense for themselves instead of giving it to Ukraine.

Evil_Potatos

&gt;"Russia's ever-increasing testing of borders and aggressiveness must be responded to by rapidly strengthening political and economic pressure,"

I feel like political and economic pressure have been properly applied since at least February 2022, and it doesn't seem to be doing much to prevent stuff like this.

Astral_Alive

Shoot them down. Claim that you thought they were ufos and let Russia choose if they want to kick shit off or not. *SPOILER they will not want to kick shit off and they will be more careful like they were with Turkey

JadedArgument1114

Illustrious-Syrup509

Sometimes I wish NATO was even 10% as bad as the worthless vatnik hordes pretend.
Declare that any airspace violations that clearly isn't a genuine mistake will be seen as hostile and shoot them down if they do not clear within xx minutes.
Lavrov can sit and shit his usual complaints all he wants. Don't send your garbage into NATO airspace then, you cancer of a nation.

Natural-Net-1513

Gunderstank_House

Shoot that shit down immediately, tf are they waiting for. Gentle parenting Russia doesn’t work.

thanosbananos

Why is violate in quotes as it would not be true?

LightBit8

At this point it's time to just shot that shit down no questions asked, Turkey did it and nothing happened

Felczer

So, NATO is under Russian military tests. Wake up my brothers in arms.

EduardBon

I would be curious to know how common this is, the RAF are scrambled every other month is seems for Russian planes getting close to British airspace.

It does feel like this is Russia testing the boundaries of what they can get away with.

DarthKrataa

Just shoot their shit down the moment it reaches NATO airspace FFS. Turkey did it and Russia learned it's lesson. Why the fuck are we not respecting our own set boundaries

Throwawayaccount1170

Still too weak. You have to shoot down anything that moves from Russia into Nato immediately.

Dear_Tiger_1358

Lock down all airspace over Ukraine and elsewhere. Anything incoming gets caught in the NATO umbrella, full-stop.

lesmainsdepigeon

Where is the kinetic sanctions? Aka shooting down Russian planes that enter NATO airspace?

Dreadedvegas

Any Russian aircraft flying in nato airspace should be shot down no second thoughts. What is this overwhelmingly weak bullshit to allow them constant and consistent access to NATO airspace. What the fuck are we doing

FalcoMccloud20xx

Shoot them down. When the fuckers complain, say we know nothing about it. Nope, not us. Must have crashed due to incompetent pilots.

ffdfawtreteraffds

Maybe some AGM should mistakenly go into russian air space.

Frenzystor

Just shoot them down.. Simple as that. Make Russia respond or fire something so slow that Russia could evade or destroy it easily. Say that was just a warning. Next time it is destroyed. Anything Russian that enters NATO air space. An ultimatum has to be drawn and they are not really doing it...

Darth_Groot28

Stop this piece of s**t!!!

What are we waiting for?

STOP RUSSIA NOW!!!!!!

Shoot them down. Without a warning.

iamagermanpotato

Legit just shoot them down already. The fuck he's gonna do? Cry that he crossed the border after the 100th warning this week.

watzwatz

Putin badly wants to drag NATO into war to use an excuse why he failed in Ukraine.

AnnoyingBus

ABotelho23

The big deal is not the event, but the pattern. Consider all that has happened since Putin came to Alaska. Literally a few days later he struck a US owned factory. He’s begun training with Belarus. And then drones entering airspace. Now this.

It’s literally the bully shoving us asking what are we gonna do about it

And what are we gonna do about it?

UndergroundHQ6

Just so everyone knows that means Putin is INCREDIBLY vulnerable. He is trying to project strength to prevent an attack. Kinda like the dumbest person in your highschool did when he was trying to look tough.

VoidOmatic

Poland will declare war before NATO does anything. 

I know no one wants to kick off WW3, but WW2 became a thing because no one wanted to stand up and fight until it was too late. Sometimes, the only way to deal with a bully is to punch them in the mouth.

CWhiz45

klautkollector

So the political and military equivalent of a stern finger wag. Got it.

DesignerCorner3322

NATO should warn Putin that for every drone or violation of airspace that three Russian refineries would be completely destroyed.

Defining a no-fly zone in Ukraine and for each violation,  Crimea would be attacked by Ukrainians with the necessary war material provided by NATO starting with the famous bridge.

An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth.

Equivalent_Joke_6163

armin514

Anything short of a kinetic response won't mean shit to Russia.

Stunning_Mediocrity

GreatGojira

I wonder how they choose the pilots. Is it random? Is it a terrible one that they don't mind loosing? Is it a good one cause these missions are risky?

Cafeine

The appropriate response is a fleet of nato aircraft entering and flying around Russian air space for 15 minutes.

eelam_garek

GIVE THEM THE TURKISH TREATMENT!

**WARNINGS WITHOUT ANSWERS? YOU WILL BE SHOT DOWN!**

Mr--Weirdo

Ukraine was beating your ass so you are like, "Let's take on NATO."

kwyjibo1

I save you a click. NATO response: "We will keep talking, and doing nothing"

DavidWtube

Putin is sitting in his throne and laughing his face off now! Only those countries that experienced Russian’s brutality and oppression know that they understand only force! They even have a saying that translates:
“There’s no defense against a crowbar, unless you have another crowbar.”
It’s a figurative way of saying that brute force can only be countered with equal brute force.

This is how this nation has seen life and the world around them since many centuries ago.

By the time NATO is going to understand that, it may be too late.

OwnYogurtcloset8606

Shoot the fuckers out of the sky.  Russia will bitch and whine and do nothing about it.  But if you keep letting russia take inches, why would they stop?

Grandkahoona01

Shoot them down immediately. Putin recognizes strength only.

Toolatethehero3

NATO is being tested by Russia bc Trump has signaled he has de facto withdrawn the US from NATO.

stayfrosty

This type of behavior could be a sign of desperation from Russia's political and/or military leadership. They have nothing to gain from a direct confrontation with NATO.

eljne

NATO responds by, ‘condemning in the strongest possible terms Russias aggression towards the NATO parters, blah blah’. Then sanctions. Haven’t read the article but I think this is pretty much the gist of it.

Opening-Employee9802

It’s worth remembering that there have been reports that Russian inflation may be about to go through the roof.  This is reported to be mainly due to interest rate manipulation not working anymore.  These incidents are likely an attempt to create a larger incident to serve as a distraction.

Just to provide a little context.

Mala_Practice

Would the Russians notice F22 or F35s flying over Moscow airspace? Uh, sorry guys, we got lost

dustycanuck

Russia can't even handle Ukraine and now they're trying to provoke everybody else?  Saw they did this to Finland and man does that take some balls after the last time they went to war with Finland.

AGrandNewAdventure

darkmoncns

So, on one hand these things need to be shot down as soon as they start fucking around, but on the other hand it sure does look like putin really wants them to be shot down to justify going all in full scale war as the economy there is really not doing well.

So pick your poison I guess.

Dependent_Survey_546

Turkey has already shown us how to respond when Russian jets violate NATO airspace.

chemicalgeekery

Just shoot them down, these idiots can't afford to lose jets

Pegasos

Time for someone to stand up to fascists somewhere. The longer we wait, the worse it will be.

arstin

Russia is waiting for nato to respond. Then trump can say it isnt a defence action so america wont get involved

kirkbywool

I haven't read the article, but I'm going to guess they "condemn it" and will speak to the ambassador and essentially do nothing.

cuppachuppa

Nato is a meme. Russia will keep doing shit like this until someone has the balls to shoot them down like turkey did in 2015.

But hey yeah lets activate art. 4 and have a nice coffee sipping session where we ’strongly condemn’ this type of behavior.

sonnikkaa

Ukrainians are kicking our asses. Maybe fly jets in Europe?

TheUHO

shoot it down. putin will not do anything about it. plus it will further damage his image in russia.

Albert3232

More fist shaking and strongly worded letters incoming

UnhappyEnergy2268

The world has been applying political and economic pressure on them since they invaded the Crimea in 2014.


I do not think it is working.

thatirishguyyyyy

Why is the headline 'Violate' in scare quotes?  The jets flew in.  They didn't 'violate' they VIOLATED!

CMG30

These aircraft have radar lock warning right? I’d bet they would turn the fuck around as soon as they heard that sound

PanzerHulkey

&gt; "Russia's ever-increasing testing of borders and aggressiveness must be responded to by rapidly strengthening political and economic pressure," he added.

Honestly I think that only showing teeth by shooting them down will make this stop. Russia has been violating NATO airspace for years even before attacking Ukraine in 2022, and so far only Turkey has resorted to this kind of measure. Meanwhile the abuses continue and people are dying or getting condemned to a life of disability.

Fridux

Interesting that this happens after Putin met with Xi. Likely got some sort of green light and reassurance of support from China.

JGBuckets21

Estonia initiated NATO consultations after three Russian fighter jets allegedly violated its airspace, marking a significant escalation amidst ongoing tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia NATO Airspace Violations

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