Shadow tanker under protection: how a Russian fighter jet mocked the NATO army in Estonia

15 May 2025 14:10

Estonia was unable to do anything about the Russian fighter jet that invaded the country’s airspace. The NATO army allegedly took the planes into the air, but there were no clashes – the Estonians simply glanced at the Russian war machine, which was in the country for about a minute. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Bloomberg.

Russia defends its shadow tanker

According to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tahkna, the incident occurred after the Estonian Navy tried to check the documents of an oil tanker belonging to the so-called “shadow fleet” of Russia and passing through the Estonian economic zone.

The Jaguar tanker (which, according to the international shipping database Equasis, recently changed its name to Argent and flies the flag of Guinea-Bissau) refused to comply with the orders of the Estonian military. Instead, Russia responded by sending a military aircraft that defiantly violated the airspace of a NATO member state.

It is particularly significant that Estonia refrained from forcibly detaining the vessel, while Russia immediately resorted to a military show of force.

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The Estonian exclusive economic zone

The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a maritime zone adjacent to the territorial sea of a state and extending up to 200 nautical miles from its coast. Importantly, it is not part of the country’s sovereign territory, but it grants the state special rights, primarily of an economic nature.

In the EEZ, the state has exclusive rights to develop natural resources, can build artificial islands, install platforms, regulate scientific research and implement environmental protection measures. At the same time, other countries maintain freedom of navigation in this zone.

Therefore, it is worth noting that the Russian shadow tanker was not in Estonian waters and was not obliged to respond to the demands of the Estonian military.

Violation of airspace

Instead, a Russian military aircraft violated the airspace of a sovereign NATO member state. Moreover, it was done defiantly to protect its own shadow tanker.

“It is important to note that the Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation, and this fighter jet violated NATO territory for almost a full minute,”

– Tsakhkna emphasized.

In response to the violation, NATO fighter jets were scrambled, and the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador to Tallinn for an explanation. Meanwhile, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Palutskas expressed concern, warning that

“…the likelihood of a serious escalation increases with each such step.”

This incident clearly demonstrates that Russia continues to brazenly “probe” the defenses of Western countries even on the eve of the expected talks in Istanbul.

The Russian side has not officially commented on the incident. Instead, the Russian segment of the Internet is actively disseminating a video allegedly filmed aboard the same shadowy tanker.