Incident Taking Place - Baltic Sea - Russia v. Estonia

As of 3:12 PM eastern US time, there is an "incident" taking place in the Gulf of Finland, where authorities from Estonia are trying to intercept a Merchant ship believed to be part of Russia's "Shadow Oil Fleet."  Russia has deployed fighter jets to protect the ship.

Estonian forces attempted to detain the Gabon-flagged M/T JAGUAR oil tanker belonging to Russia's "Shadow Fleet" in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel was en route to the Russian port of Primorsk.

Estonian vessels, along with an AW139 helicopter and a M28 Skytruck plane, can been seen maneuvering around the JAGUAR tanker.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35-S fighter jet has been scrambled and is now on-station in the air above the incident. The Su-35S flew over the tanker in an attempt to “scare away” the Estonians, and in the process, violated Estonia’s Airspace over the Gulf of Finland. The situation is tense.

New details reveal the Russian Su-35 crossed the border without permission in the area of the Juminda Peninsula and was in the country's airspace for less than a minute. The aircraft had no flight plan, its transponder was turned off, and there was no communication with air traffic controllers. In response, F-16 fighter jets of the Portuguese Air Force, on duty at the Ämari base in Estonia as part of NATO's mission, were scrambled.

Estonia has no right to intercept ships in International Waters, and force them into Estonian waters.   The Russia fighter jet is authorized to fire in order to protect the Merchant ship because it is in International Waters.

The JAGUAR oil tanker is currently halted near one of the islands in the Gulf of Finland, so there's a possibility that the Estonians ultimately managed to detain the vessel.

UPDATE 3:26 PM EDT --

The Estonia (a.k.a."Pirates of the Baltic Sea") began to threaten to ram the Merchant vessel and twice attempted to land troops from a helicopter.

Moreover, tactical aircraft were raised.

The Merchant Vessel crew did not fall for these provocations and the vessel continued on its course.

The forces and means involved in the provocation from the Estonian side:

• patrol boat "Raiu";
• - patrol ship "Kurvits";
• - landing helicopter;
• - PZL M28 aircraft;

VIDEO FROM THE ACTUAL MERCHANT VESSEL INVOLVED:

UPDATE 3:54 PM EDT --

The Merchant Vessel is now moving in the International Shipping lane and is safely in Russian Waters.