Italian NATO fighters escorted three Russian MiG-31 aircraft out of Estonian airspace between 9:34 AM and 10:34 AM UTC on Friday, September 20th, after the aircraft violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland. The Russian planes flew parallel to the Estonian state border, penetrating the airspace to a depth of less than 10 kilometers without flight plans or transponders, and made no contact with air traffic control, according to Estonia's Ministry of Defence. This incident occurred while Ukraine intensified its drone campaign targeting Russian oil and gas infrastructure, with 15 recorded strikes by September 20th, surpassing August's total. Overnight, Russia launched a major drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated. Ukrainian forces reported striking three key targets in Russia's Saratov and Samara regions: the Saratov and Novokuybyshevsk oil refineries and the Samara oil pumping station, causing massive fires. In response to the Russian aerial activity, Poland mobilized all its resources, deploying fighter jets and placing air defense and radar units on high alert, as stated by Deputy Prime Minister Radek Sikorski. This follows a night of widespread Russian aerial attacks across Ukraine, which resulted in civilian casualties and infrastructure damage. Separately, a Ukrainian alert indicated "Pavlograd red from northeast", potentially signaling an aerial threat. French President Emmanuel Macron shared a message on social media urging unity amidst attempts to spread division through anti-Semitic tags and false information on social networks, though no direct link to the aerial incidents was specified in his statement.
