Russian forces entered Estonian territory, Poland urgently deployed Patriot missiles, and the alarm sounded 20 minutes later!
At 1:30 a.m. on December 18, three Russian soldiers crossed the Narva River without notice or warning, stepping onto Estonian soil. They stayed near the village of Sõrve Narva for a full 20 minutes before returning along the same route.
Estonia immediately sounded the alarm, summoned Russian diplomatic representatives, and increased border patrols, but did not immediately deploy heavy equipment. However, Poland's response was completely different—within two hours of the news, the Polish Ministry of Defense ordered the "Patriot" air defense system stationed in the east to enter full combat readiness.
The Estonia-Russia border is about 300 kilometers long. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the two sides signed a border agreement in the late 1990s, and completed the demarcation in 2005. Although there are individual disputed areas, the overall border has operated smoothly, with occasional minor friction, but no cases of armed personnel crossing in organized groups.
According to information published by the Estonian Interior Ministry, the three Russian soldiers' route was clear, and their stay was precisely controlled at 20 minutes—enough to complete a tactical reconnaissance or signal transmission, but not enough to trigger direct combat. More importantly, the entire process was fully recorded by the monitoring system, indicating that Russia did not attempt to hide the operation, but rather seemed to be "intentionally seen."
By the end of 2025, NATO is intensively advancing the integration of its eastern defenses. Estonia, as a NATO member, recently participated in multinational joint exercises; while Russia continues to deploy hypersonic missiles and electronic warfare systems in Belarus and Kaliningrad.
It is likely that this low-intensity yet high-symbolic border incident was a test by Moscow of NATO's reaction threshold—testing whether the West would escalate military deployment due to "small actions," or continue to maintain a strategy of "compliance first."
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851897440836617/
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