Taliban Rejects US Efforts To Return Pentagon Counterterror Troops To Bagram Air Base
President Trump wants Afghanistan’s Bagram “back” – as he said while in the United Kingdom alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.
“We gave it to them for nothing,” he said in reference to the Taliban, after long criticizing the botched Biden-ordered US withdrawal from the country. “We want that base back,” he said.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that senor US admin officials are currently in discussions with the Taliban about re-establishing a small US military presence there.
The Pentagon is seeking to have a central Asian launchpad for ‘counterterrorism’ operations there. The only problem is, their ‘host’ would literally be Islamist radicals and terrorists – namely the Taliban.
WSJ details, “President Trump’s surprise announcement Thursday that he is seeking to reclaim Bagram Air Base is a potential component of a broader diplomatic effort to normalize relations with the Taliban, the people said.”
“The talks—which are led by special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler—include a potential prisoner exchange, a possible economic deal and a security component, according to a U.S. official,” the report continues.
However, for now it seems the Taliban government has rejected the proposal, which could see manned aircraft or possibly drones operate out of the massive airbase which sites north of Kabul.
“We’re trying to get it back, because they need things from us. We want that base back,” Trump had said Thursday from England.
The Taliban’s foreign minister Zakir Jalaly, wrote the following in a new social media post:
“Afghanistan and America need to engage with each other and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect and common benefits, without America having military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” Jalaly wrote. “Military presence has never been accepted by Afghans in history, and this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement, but doors to other engagements have been opened.”
‘Impossible’ – Kabul is now saying. Indeed US troops in the heart of Afghanistan might also be essentially sitting ducks for potential attacks from various armed militant groups, or even the Talban itself.
Islamists have long boasted of their possession of the prized, sprawling base:
This is Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and it will remain under the control of the Islamic Emirate as long as this true system and ideology endures. pic.twitter.com/QAR4JFZQu9
Washington has long been worried that in the wake of its withdrawal, China’s military could move in – or the PLA military might even make use of Bagram. Over the years, some reports even claimed Chinese troops already initiated a presence there.
Alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson used the pseudonym “Donald Trump” while playing on the gaming platform Steam, according to a Thursday report from Bloomberg.
The factoid about Robinson’s gamer name came in a report that also revealed that the Secret Service is investigating the assassin, even though Kirk wasn’t under the agency’s protection.
“Agents are working with the FBI to study Robinson’s behavior and online activity, including his use of Trump’s name on Steam, as part of a profile they are building,” Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
“The aim is to understand how suspects form grievances, how they select targets and whether their actions signal broader risks to current or former officeholders.”
According to Bloomberg, Robinson’s Steam account is 11 years old.
“It lists an account that appears to belong to his partner as a friend. Some comments on the account were disabled shortly after Bloomberg reached out to Valve [the company that runs Steam] for comment,” Bloomberg added.
The government has falsely linked assassin’s to Steam in the past.
Indeed, days after the July 13 assassination attempt against Donald Trump, Congress was provided information from the FBI that Thomas Crooks “previewed” his attack on Steam.
However, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress weeks later that the Steam account in question did not, in fact, belong to Crooks. Wray admitted that his own agents were duped by a fake account—meaning that the FBI briefed Congress with fake evidence in the crucial hours following an assassination attempt against the presidential frontrunner.
“That’s a situation where in our effort to give real-time information, since we’ve provided that information, we’ve since learned that the July 13 ‘premier’ profile page on the gaming platform—it turns out, it was not the shooter. It was some other individual, who as a sick joke, after the shooting created the profile page pretending to be the shooter,” Wray said in response to questions from Rep. Benjamin Cline, R-Va.
“That person has since admitted to it,” Wray said, referring to the hoaxer. “Among the other challenges we as investigators have, we have people creating accounts pretending to be somebody when it’s not the actual person.”
Wray did say that Crooks had multiple accounts on gaming platforms.
“We do believe he was a gamer and that he did have different types of gaming accounts,” Wray said.
The FBI has yet to release any information on Crooks’s gaming account.
The House Oversight committee has subpoenaed the heads of Steam, Discord, Twitch and Reddit to testify in a hearing about the radicalization of online forum users, including instances of open incitement to commit politically motivated acts.
Pakistan Extends Nuclear Umbrella Over Saudi Arabia In Defense Pact
Earlier this week Islamic countries Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact, greatly deepening and formalizing decades-long security partnership amid heightened regional tensions. Big on the minds of Gulf leaders is the long reach of Israel’s military and intelligence, following last week’s unprecedented strike on the capital of Qatar, which infuriated Arab leaders.
Late Thursday, Islamabad officials revealed that a significant part of the pact is the sharing of nuclear capabilities. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif made clear that Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities would be extended to Saudi Arabia if necessary. Of course, on the other side of this there’s India, which is going to be angry and alarmed.
It marks the first ever explicit confirmation that Pakistan has placed Saudi Arabia under its nuclear umbrella, again – significantly at a moment Gulf tensions are rising with nuclear-armed Israel.
The defense pact, which signed at a ceremony in Riyadh Wednesday, spells out that an attack on one country will be considered an attack on both, Asif confirmed.
Though they are proud to publicize the nuclear-sharing agreement, neither Pakistan nor Saudi Arabia has clarified whether the agreement includes actual access to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
Such a scenario would be a game-changer in the region, which could possibly remove or take care of a key incentive for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham accords. All of this also signals Riyadh’s desire to be less dependent on American security guarantees and protection in the region as Israel is increasingly seen as just doing what it wants.
Peace or ‘normalization’ with Israel is now off or at least on indefinite hold due to the Gaza crisis, but Saudi Arabia was said to be demanding Washington approval of a nuclear energy development program. On the Israel issue, the Saudis are trying to downplay the curious timing of the defense pact:
“This agreement is a culmination of years of discussions. This is not a response to specific countries or specific events but an institutionalization of longstanding and deep cooperation between our two countries,” a senior Saudi official told Reuters.
Pakistani officials have underscored Saudi Arabia’s crucial role in its past nuclear program, as it offered “generous financial support” that helped sustain its nuclear development.
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a mutual defense pact, pledging an attack on one would be considered as “an aggression against both.” But ties with India complicate the agreement: pic.twitter.com/gkzSTsS7Zg
This helped Pakistan’s program and broader military endure periods of international sanctions, related to US punitive actions related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said in an interview that ABC’s “The View” could be investigated after Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, was suspended earlier this week over remarks he made about the late Charlie Kirk.
“I would assume you could make the argument that ‘The View’ is a bona fide news show, but I’m not so sure about that,” Carr said on “The Scott Jennings Radio Show” on Sept. 18.
“And I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether ‘The View’ and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place.”
“The View,” a daytime talk show, is hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro.
ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely after a group of ABC-affiliated stations said it would not air the show following comments Kimmel made about the assassination of Kirk, a conservative influencer, during an episode earlier this week.
Kimmel appeared to suggest that the suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a supporter of President Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
Prosecutors have said that Robinson allegedly had left-wing and pro-transgender views.
Carr said that Kimmel was attempting to mislead the public with his on-air statements.
“The issue that arose here, where lots and lots of people were upset, was not a joke,” Carr told CNBC on Thursday.
“It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact.”
Under the FCC’s jurisdiction, ABC, CBS, and NBC have special requirements to “operate within the public interest,” Carr said on Sept. 17.
“Broadcasters are different than any other form of communication.”
Carr said his agency had a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC, and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading false information.
Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, were critical of Kimmel being suspended by ABC and other broadcasters.
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Obama said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump said that Kimmel was removed partially because of a “lack of talent,” along with his recent comments on Kirk.
“Kimmel is not a talented person; he has very bad ratings more than anything else, and they should have fired him a long time ago,” Trump said during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the UK on Sept. 18.
“You can call that free speech or not—he was fired for lack of talent.”
In posts on Truth Social this year, including one last month, Trump also suggested that the FCC go after the broadcasting licenses held by ABC and NBC.
Kimmel has not issued a public statement on his suspension, and it’s unclear whether he will return to the show he’s hosted since May 2002.
In an eye-opening interview, former CIA officer turned whistleblower John Kiriakou pulled back the curtain on the agency’s most elite fighting units, revealing how the United States’ intelligence agencies transformed overnight into a lethal force dedicated to hunting down radical Islamic terrorists after the September 11th terror attacks.
Speaking with host Dalton Fischer, Kiriakou delivered a no-nonsense account of CIA’s most classified operators, the legendary Ground Branch warriors, Special Activities Division (SAD), and Counterterrorism Center (CTC), elite units filled with the U.S.’s finest Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Delta Force operators.
“These aren’t your typical government bureaucrats,” Kiriakou explained. “These are battle-tested heroes from our most elite military units, SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force, recruited because they have the skills and courage to do what others can’t.”
After 9/11, these elite soldiers were quickly brought into the CIA fold, many on loan from the military before becoming permanent assets in divisions like Global Services, Special Activities Division, and the hard-hitting Counterterrorism Center. Their mission? Simple and vital: eliminate threats to American lives and freedom (and whatever the fuck else the CIA has them doing).
“What they do is so classified that even though everybody in the office knows what they’re up to, nobody talks about it,” Kiriakou revealed, describing the iron-clad secrecy surrounding these operations. Their job, the former CIA officer explained without hesitation, is “to neutralize anybody who poses a threat to the United States, its citizens, or its installations.”
While praising the critical importance of eliminating high-value terrorist targets like Osama bin Laden to protect American families, Kiriakou didn’t shy away from addressing the tough questions about oversight and accountability.
“Mistakes happen in the fog of war,” Kiriakou acknowledged, referencing troubling cases where intelligence errors led to innocent people being detained. “We’re not lawless vigilantes. As American government officials, we’re bound by the Constitution. That’s what separates us from our enemies and makes America the beacon of freedom in the world.”
Kiriakou pinpointed the exact moment America’s intelligence community transformed into a fighting force.
“The day after 9/11,” Kiriakou told Fischer, vividly recalling the pivotal moment when Cofer Black, then head of the Counterterrorism Center, stood before his team and declared the new reality.
“Today, we’re at war, and we’re all going to have to fight. Not all of us are going to come home,” Black announced to a silent room, marking the beginning of the U.S.’s years-long campaign against al-Qaeda.
By Christmas 2001, Kiriakou explained that al-Qaeda’s core operations in Afghanistan was virtually destroyed, with only 25 active members remaining according to Senate intelligence.
Before 9/11, the Special Activities Division operated in the shadows within the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, conducting missions that were rarely discussed even within the agency itself. After the attacks, the Counterterrorism Center rapidly established its own special activities group, primarily composed of loaned military personnel focused on hunting down terrorists plotting against America.
The elite CIA units regularly undertake extraordinarily dangerous missions, including parachuting into hostile territory, conducting high-risk extractions in terrorist strongholds like Benghazi, Khartoum, and Karachi.
“It’s extremely dangerous work,” Kiriakou said, noting that many fallen heroes are honored with anonymous stars on the CIA’s Wall of Honor, their ultimate sacrifice known only to God and country.
The post-9/11 atmosphere at the Counterterrorism Center reflected America’s new war footing, with office areas nicknamed “Bin Laden Boulevard” and “Hezbollah Highway.”
Kiriakou also shed light on the Global Response Staff (GRS), elite security professionals whose job is literally to put their lives on the line for other Americans. Created to protect case officers operating in the world’s most dangerous locations. “Your job is to throw your body in front of the other guy so he doesn’t get killed,” he told Fischer.
Kiriakou is a former CIA officer who became a prominent whistleblower after exposing the agency’s use of torture in interrogations following 9/11. He served in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center and was involved in the capture of high-value terrorist targets, including Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan in 2002. Kiriakou made headlines when he publicly confirmed the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques, becoming the first former CIA officer to openly discuss the agency’s torture program. His revelations led to his prosecution under the Espionage Act, and he served nearly two years in federal prison for allegedly revealing the identity of a covert CIA officer.
The 20-year war in Afghanistan stands as one of the U.S.’s most devastating foreign policy failures, costing taxpayers over $2 trillion and resulting in the deaths of 243,000 people across Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001, according to Brown University’s Costs of War Project. While the U.S. achieved the initial mission of dismantling al-Qaeda and removing the Taliban government after 9/11, the mission tragically expanded into a nation-building disaster that squandered American blood and treasure. Over 2,400 American servicemembers made the ultimate sacrifice, all for a mission that ended in humiliating defeat when the Taliban reclaimed power in mere days following then-President Joe Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal in August 2021. The collapse exposed how two decades of military presence, billions spent training Afghan forces, and countless American lives lost failed to create the stable democracy our leaders promised, leaving many veterans asking whether their sacrifice was in vain.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) described the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime in Washington D.C. as a “fascist takeover” during an unhinged diatribe in the House of Representatives Thursday, prompting a Republican member to call her “radical” and “insane.”
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled “Oversight of the District of Columbia” to discuss President Trump’s recent efforts to improve public safety in the nation’s capital.
Witnesses included D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and gun control advocate Gregory Jackson, Jr.
Tlaib made clear in her remarks that she was not a fan of Trump’s decision to mobilize the national guard and take control of the Metropolitan Police Department to combat the rampant crime and homelessness plaguing D.C.
“We can’t be passive right now. It’s really important that we stand up against this fascist takeover,” Tlaib said.
She added defensively, “that’s not a bad word! It’s a fact here in D.C. and across the country.”
The congresswoman went on to suggest that any mention of the city’s crime issues was insincere and off-base.
“It is so incredibly important Mr. Chair that this committee does not allow rhetoric that defames or paints Washington D.C. in a way that you all really haven’t seen, she said. “You’re just reading it or something of off …”
At this point Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) interjected to ask Tlaib to yield to answer a question.
“No, I don’t yield, I don’t even have time,” the congresswoman shot back.
“Your time’s expired,” Donalds informed her.
But Tlaib continued her rant.
“You all live here and you’re not telling people the beautiful parts that we do see in our nation’s capital,” she said.
Donald’s broke in again to say he objected to Tlaib referring to him and his colleagues as if they were from “the Third Reich.”
“This is insane!” he exclaimed. “Do I look like a member of the Third Reich to you Miss Tlaib?” he asked.
The congresswoman raised her voice, shrilly screaming in response: “You’re the one who … No! … That’s unethical!”
As the Michigan Democrat continued to fulminate, Donalds spoke over her, saying “I think it’s radical and I think it’s insane and I don’t respect anything that you said. To say something like that about myself and my colleagues is way out of line!”
“You hold yourself accountable before you talk about Washington D.C.!” Tlaib bellowed in response.
“Hold your own self accountable, how about that?” Donalds shot back. “Hold your own self accountable.”
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) finally took control and gave the floor to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).
In his opening statement, Comer credited the president with setting “a strong example of how smart-on-crime policies protect communities.”
The chairman noted that the Committee recently passed fourteen key pieces of legislation aimed at restoring public safety, and urged his colleagues to continue building on the progress already achieved in D.C.
Comer said that “since Trump mobilized the national guard and took control of the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime has decreased 39 percent, robberies are down 57 percent, and car jackings are down 75 percent.”
Over 2,300 people have been arrested. Nearly 950 illegal aliens have been detained by ICE, including 20 gang members from violent foreign terrorist organizations.
Sex offenders have been taken off the streets.
Major drug trafficking operations have been foiled.
Authorities thwarted a planned school shooting, cleared 50 illegal tent encampments, and rescued seven missing children.
And D.C. went without a homicide for 13 days.
Prior to Trump’s crackdown on crime, Washington, D.C. was suffering from soaring crime rates, as high as the violent 1990s, Comer said.
“President Trump’s operation was a resounding success and a shining example of how smart-on-crime policies can keep the residents of and visitors to our nation’s capital safe,” the chairman declared.
Baltimore’s Decay Accelerates As Kevin Plank’s Billion-Dollar Microcity Turns Into “Ghost Town”
Under Armour founder Kevin Plank and his brother Scott Plank sold their ownership interest in a luxury hotel tucked into Baltimore’s historic Fells Point neighborhood this week. The sale comes as UA’s turnaround plan sputters, its much-hyped micro-city remains half-empty, and Plank continues, or at least attempts to offload assets. Why the Planks poured so much money into a city run by incompetent Democrats – many of them considered far-left activists – remains puzzling, as Baltimore has descended over the years into what President Trump has called a “hellhole.”
The Baltimore Sun reports the Plank brothers sold their ownership stake in the Pendry hotel to Montage International, a California-based hospitality management company, on Wednesday. They spent $60 million to renovate and restore the building, transforming it into what is now called the Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel.
A major problem for the luxury hotel, as The Sun asks: Amid Sagamore Pendry sale by Kevin Plank, can luxury hotels thrive in Baltimore?
Certainly a great question, given that the far-left activists running Baltimore City have pushed a decade of failed criminal justice reforms that backfired and fueled a violent crime wave. The result is unmistakable: a population collapse to 100-year lows.
… in other words, the largest population exodus in a generation. The city could lose its “major city” status if the population hemorrhage continues.
Why the Planks poured tens of millions – if not more – into Baltimore seems like another troubling bet. Perhaps the explanation lies in their origin story, which began in the metro area, where they sold UA tees out of a car at youth lacrosse games and through the retail chain Lax World.
By Bas van Geffen, Senior Macro Strategist At Raboank
In a surprise decision, the Bank of Japan announced it would start to gradually sell its ETF holdings. The central bank plans to shrink its portfolio by ¥620 billion ($4.2 billion) per year. To emphasise how gradual of a pace that is, Governor Ueda recounted that “it would take more than 100 years” to fully unwind the central bank’s ETF holdings.
On top of that, two policymakers dissented from the decision to leave the policy rate unchanged today. They preferred to hike to 0.75% already, which puts a rate hike in October squarely on the table.
The shock announcement made for a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Japanese equities. The Nikkei 225 opened the trading day about one percent higher; tumbled 2.5% from those levels on the Bank’s announcement; and finally recovered some of those declines to end up 0.6% below yesterday’s close.
But there’s, perhaps, another interesting element to this decision: the central bank decided to reduce its ETF holdings, rather than speeding up its exit from the sovereign bond market – that is, more than the tapering of JGB purchases it had announced in June. Both programmes will need to be right-sized as part of policy normalisation, but perhaps the recent pressure on global long-term bond yields –and particularly JGBs– was a consideration as well. Either way, the Japanese curve is twist flattening on the hawkish decision.
The UK monetary policy decision made less waves. Yesterday, the Bank of England decided to keep its policy rate unchanged at 4.00%, with a familiar split vote. The usual two suspects voted in favour of another 25bp cut. That, along with the policy statement, affirms our view that there is still a bias toward easing in the monetary policy committee, even though the bar for further rate cuts is rising. Policymakers are looking to cut further, but only when they get clearer evidence that the disinflationary process is continuing.
Yet, UK inflation data suggest that the disinflationary momentum is waning, and various metrics of underlying inflation remain sticky, and we don’t believe that the October inflation report will provide a very different picture. Therefore, we now expect the next rate cut to be delayed into early 2026, and we have revised our forecast for the terminal rate somewhat higher.
As our UK strategist notes, the Bank remaining on hold through Q4 also puts the emphasis on Chancellor Reeves’ Autumn budget. The Chancellor has the difficult task of plugging a roughly £50 billion fiscal gap.
Today’s data once again underscored the need to shore up the UK’s finances. Public sector net borrowing was much higher than expected in August: last month, the government borrowed £5.5 billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast in March. And estimated borrowing in earlier months were revised up as well. Yields on longer-dated gilts are opening significantly higher – with sterling down against both dollar and euro, reflecting concerns about the sustainability of the UK’s finances.
In short, tax hikes are pretty much unavoidable. That will be a tough message to sell, as Labour is already trailing Reform in the polls. But investors require something more tangible than just rhetoric: they demand to see credible and substantial fiscal adjustments.
Given the hesitance amongst gilt investors, it is noteworthy that the Bank of England will shrink its sovereign bond holdings by £70 billion over the next year. That includes £21 billion in active sales, on top of the maturing bonds – an increase from this year’s pace. In an attempt to limit disruptions in longer-dated Gilts, the central bank will skew its sales towards shorter maturities.
Trump To Slap H1-B Visas With $100,000 Fee; Infosys, Cognizant Plunge
Bad news for alien worker visa farms such as Infosys and Cognizant.
President Trump is expected to sign an order as soon as Friday that would extensively overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications in a bid to curb overuse, Bloomberg reported citing a White House official familiar with the matter.
Trump is set to sign a proclamation Friday, requiring the payment and asserting that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers. The proclamation restricts entry under the H-1B program unless accompanied by the payment, which of course will make it so prohibitively expensive to hire foreign workers that only a handful such applications will be made.
Think of it as a tariff on foreign labor.
There’s more: Trump will also order the Labor Secretary to undertake a rulemaking process to revise prevailing-wage levels for the H-1B program, a move intended to limit the use of visas to undercut wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers.
The move is the latest immigration reform by the Trump administration and will heavily affect the technology industry in particular, as it relies heavily on H-1Bs. The administration argues that the revisions will bring more certainty to legitimate filings under the program by weeding out abuses.
A fact sheet published by the White House and set seen by Bloomberg News, claims that workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor and called it a national security threat. The dynamic is suppressing wages and disincentivizing Americans from choosing careers in STEM fields, the White House said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the $100,000 figure was in addition to, or inclusive of, existing fees that are much more modest. Fees directly tied to the H-1B visa application currently include a $215 fee to register for the lottery and a $780 fee for a Form I-129, which is a petition for a non-immigrant worker that is filed by an employer sponsor.
H-1B visas are awarded based on a lottery system, but Bloomberg News has reported previously that flaws in the system create loopholes that some employers exploit by flooding the lottery with entries. Unlike large tech firms these companies often use the visa program to hire lower-paid workers — and do so indirectly, through staffing and outsourcing companies that capture about half of the 85,000 new visas allocated each year.
The administration’s policy shift unfolds alongside a wave of fee increases for work permits, asylum applications and humanitarian protections stipulated in the president’s tax bill, in a bid to raise revenue to pay for funding for new detention centers, hiring thousands of immigration agents, and expanding border wall construction.
News of the shocking fee sent shares of visa farms and foreign worker consultancies such as Infosys, Cognizant and Accenture tumbling.
Several Russian Jets Breach Airspace Of NATO-Member Estonia
NATO member Estonia (since 2004) has fiercely condemned what it says is a “brazen” incident where Russian warplanes violated its airspace over the Gulf of Finland on Friday.
The Estonian foreign ministry described that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets “entered Estonian airspace without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes.”
The ministry quickly summoned Russian chargé d’affaires “to lodge a protest” – and simultaneously EU diplomat Kaja Kallas, who hails from the Baltic country and was the first female prime minister, blasted the incursion as “an extremely dangerous provocation”.
Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna went further to call it “unprecedentedly brazen” saying that–
“Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”
Reports in Estonian media claim that the jets turned off their transponders and ‘went dark’ during the incident, so as to not be tracked easily on radar.
This apparently isn’t a first, as Russia has allegedly violated Estonia’s airspace four times in 2025. Moscow likely isn’t too ‘concerned’ over moments its military might breach the airspace of this tiny former Soviet satellite state in the Baltics.
But European leaders are using these increasing instances to push for an ‘eastern flank’ aerial defense shield protecting NATO.
Just last week the two largest eastern members of NATO said that Russian drones breached their airspace.
The Polish instance was the most serious, given Warsaw accused Russia of intentionally sending a ‘wave’ of drones – up to 19 – which resulted in its military urgently scrambling jets to track them.
Russia in response insisted that there was nothing deliberate about the drone breach, which it turns out involved ‘decoy’ drones commonly used over Ukraine to draw away air defense missiles.
The Kremlin says there are “no plans” to target Polish or NATO soil. But one of the drones may have made it as much as 40 miles into Polish territory, which is significant.
Romania also sent jets to track an apparently errant Russian drone’s movements, and chose not to shoot it down, before it went back into Ukraine.
