Estonia to deliver drones worth tens of millions of euros to Ukraine and joins PURL programme

Estonia is set to transfer drones to Ukraine worth tens of millions of euros this week.

As reported by Ukrinform, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur noted a decline in military aid to Ukraine and emphasised that Estonia is sending new UAVs due to this. He said that US contributions to Ukraine this year have dropped significantly, and "it's not only for us – it's for all the allies to help Ukraine to win this war".

"We decided additionally to that what we have already done that we are sending also this week a lot of drones worth tens of millions," Pevkur said.

The defence minister added that Estonia has also decided to join the Nordic-Baltic assistance package under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). The Nordic and Baltic countries will shape the next package for Ukraine. Prior to this, four such packages had already been provided, each worth about €1.5 billion.

"So this is good news. Our contribution will be US$12 million," Pevkur said.

He added that the Nordic-Baltic package will be finalised very soon, possibly even today. The minister also said that several Estonian companies are producing interceptor drones, and that a "long test day" is planned next week to "see how effective they are".

Pevkur emphasised that Ukraine's air defence still fails to "see and catch" about 20-25% of drones, and that the Russians are now using Geran-3 drones equipped with jet engines.

He also reiterated that Russia violated Estonia's airspace, prompting Tallinn to initiate formal consultations under Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty.

"As we see, Russia was intentional with that… they didn't obey the orders of our air controllers and also the fighter jets … If someone is in NATO's airspace for 12 minutes, that shows that this is a really long time, and we needed to react," he added.

Pevkur said that aerial patrols are crucial, especially in the Baltic states. He also called for cooperation to develop the Alliance's Operation Eastern Sentry to explore further strengthening measures.

On 9 October, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging EU member states to shoot down aerial targets that illegally violate their borders.

The EU seeks to build a "drone wall" using Ukrainian technologies, and plans to invest billions of euros.