Mysterious drone swarm disrupts Estonia's airspace and power plant near Russian border
Estonian airspace faced an unusual disruption early on Wednesday, March 25. Several unidentified drones entered the northeastern region between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m., with one striking the chimney of the Auvere power plant near the Russian border. The incident triggered widespread confusion after emergency alerts were delayed and contained errors.
The first drones were detected passing through northeastern Estonia shortly after 2:00 a.m. While they posed no direct threat to residents, one stray drone hit the Auvere power station chimney at 3:43 a.m. Additional drones were later observed violating airspace over the Gulf of Finland.
The Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) activated the EE-ALARM notification system only after 8:00 a.m., hours after the event. Initial alerts, sent at 8:30 a.m., failed to specify the affected region, leading to public confusion. Nearly an hour later, a corrected message identified Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru counties as the risk areas. Errors in the system extended beyond timing. Some notifications mixed languages, while others incorrectly defined regions. Interior Minister Igor Taro later attributed these mistakes to human error. The confusion overwhelmed emergency services, with the national information line 1247 receiving five times its usual call volume. Even the emergency number 112 struggled, leaving some callers—including those with genuine crises—on hold.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal confirmed the incident will undergo a full review to prevent future failures. The drone strike at Auvere and the delayed, flawed alerts exposed gaps in Estonia's emergency response. Authorities now face the task of reinforcing both airspace security and public notification systems.
