Three Russian military jets violated NATO member Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes on Friday in an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion, its government said, the latest in a series of recent military actions by Russia that have rattled the alliance.

With tensions already high because of the war in Ukraine, the incursion came just over a week after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of Sept. 9-10. That prompted NATO jets to down some of them and Western officials to say Russia was testing the alliance’s readiness and resolve.

It also occurred three days after Russia and Belarus ended their “Zapad-2025” joint military exercises, which included the rehearsal of the launch of Russian nuclear weapons.

Tallinn said the three MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace without permission and stayed for a total of 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw, a period during which the high-speed aircraft could have traversed broad swaths of the country.

“Russia has violated Estonian airspace four times already this year, which is unacceptable in itself, but today’s violation, during which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen,” said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its jets routinely fly over the Baltic Sea between mainland Russia and its exclave of Kaliningrad.

Separately, Poland said on Friday two Russian fighter jets violated the safety zone of the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea.

The U.S. State Department referred queries to the White House, which did not respond to requests for comment.

President Donald Trump’s administration was being closely watched for a response.

Washington had had little to say about the drone incursion into Poland and did not participate directly in fending it off, triggering deep anxiety among NATO members.

NATO said Russia was reckless.

“Earlier today, Russian jets violated Estonian airspace. NATO responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft. This is yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO’s ability to respond,” a NATO spokesperson said on X.

Europeans quickly responded to the Russian jet incident on Friday. “This was no accident,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas – a former Estonian prime minister – said in comments relayed by a spokesperson.

Estonia said it had summoned the top Russian diplomat in the country to lodge a protest and deliver a note.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said his country had decided to ask NATO to open consultations under Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty, and that the Russian jets flew around 5 nautical miles (9 km) into NATO airspace before Italian F-35s, currently stationed at a base in Estonia, pushed them out.

NATO polices the airspace of Estonia and other Baltic nations in its “Baltic Sentry” mission.

“We consider it essential to consult with our Allies to ensure shared situational awareness and to agree on our next joint steps. The entire Alliance is treating this incident seriously,” Michal said.

Tsahkna suggested that Estonia would be asking allies for more air defenses. “It was a very clear provocation. It was definitely meant like this. And that’s why we are calling the Article 4 political consultations,” he told Reuters.

Article 4 states that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them is threatened.

Ukraine called the incursion an unacceptable new destabilization measure by Russia and said it stands with Estonia. “Strong action is needed, both jointly and from individual countries,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said NATO should urgently move air defence capabilities to frontline states.

“We are being tested, our citizens are being threatened almost every day now. This means that we need to have capabilities collected from our allies (to be placed) by our borders, because that’s the border of NATO,” she told Reuters.

In New York, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told Reuters he wasn’t aware of the incident, but added: “I do not trust what Estonia is saying about Russia.” When told about the accusation by Estonia that Russia had flown jets into its airspace, Nebenzia said: “How tragic.”

Estonia said the airspace violation occurred on Friday morning in the area of Vaindloo Island, around 100 kilometres (124 miles) from the capital Tallinn.

The aircraft did not have flight plans, their transponders were not switched on and they were not in contact with air traffic control, Estonia said.

While incursions over Vaindloo Island by Russian aircraft are fairly common, they do not usually last as long as Friday’s incident. “It’s tough to see how this wasn’t intentional,” a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

The official noted that it was difficult to see a situation where that many Russian aircraft did not know they were in Estonian airspace for that long, but added that a deeper assessment was ongoing.

Jakub M. Godzimirski, a research professor in Russian security policy at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, said the incident could be a test, but could also be purely coincidental.

“Still, this happens in a given context, having in mind what happened with the drone incursion in Poland a few days ago,” Godzimirski said.

A staunch supporter of Ukraine, Tallinn said in May that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a “shadow fleet” defying Western sanctions on Moscow.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, Gram Slattery, Sabine Siebold, Gwladys Fouche, Angelo Amante, Idrees Ali, Anne Kauranen, Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Nerijus Adomaitis, Lili Bayer, Andrew Gray, Michelle Nichols, David Latona and Yulia Dysa: Writing by Alan Charlish and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alex Richardson, Sharon Singleton, Don Durfee and Nick Zieminski)

President Donald Trump plans to impose a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B worker visas, a White House official said, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.

As part of his broader immigration crackdown, the Republican president was expected to sign a proclamation as early as Friday restricting entry under the H-1B visa program unless the application fee is paid, the official said.

Reuters was not immediately able to establish details of who the fee would apply to or how it would be administered.

The H-1B program has become a major flashpoint between Trump’s conservative base and the tech industry that contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.

Critics of the program, including many U.S. technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs. Supporters, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, say it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive.

The $100,000 fee could significantly push up costs for companies. While the new fees may not deter Big Tech, which routinely spends heavily to secure top talent, they could squeeze smaller tech firms and start-ups.

Roughly two-thirds of jobs secured through the program are computer-related, government figures show, but employers also use the visa to bring in engineers, educators, and health care workers.

India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon.com had more than 10,000 H-1B visas approved, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each.

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, an IT services company that relies extensively on H-1B visa holders, as well as U.S.-listed shares of Indian tech firms Infosys and Wipro, fell more than 2% each.

Microsoft declined to comment. The other companies, the Indian embassy in Washington, and the Chinese Consulate General in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The move to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration’s most high-profile effort so far to rework temporary employment visas.

The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees.

Under the current system, H-1B applicants pay a small fee to enter a lottery and, if selected, subsequent fees that can amount to several thousand dollars depending on the case. Nearly all the visa fees have to be paid by the employers. The H-1B visas are approved for a period of three to six years.

Last month, the U.S. launched a pilot program allowing consular officers to demand bonds of up to $15,000 for tourist and business visas from countries with high overstay rates or limited vetting data, a Federal Register notice said.

That followed Trump’s June travel ban restricting entry from 19 nations, part of a broader immigration push that has already deterred some visitors and driven down transatlantic airfares.

Trump’s first-term administration issued several regulations that aimed to limit access to the visas and give them to higher-paying employers, but the regulations were blocked in federal court.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru, and Aditya Soni and Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)