Police banned drones near the border in Ida-Viru County

Photo: Sander Ilvest

Many drone pilots in Estonia received a letter from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) this week, notifying them that due to the unstable situation at the border, drone flights are prohibited.

Many were confused, as there was no known event at the border that could create such an unstable situation.

The warning also sparked lively discussions on social media, with some suggesting that the flight ban could be related to the upcoming desynchronization of the Estonian power grid from Russia's grid and potential sabotage acts that Russia might carry out in retaliation.

Eerik Purgel, head of the border guard office of the East Prefecture, said that in the past year, there has been an increase in GPS signal jamming near the border, which has posed a challenge both for agencies operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the area and for hobbyist pilots.

«We have also sent important information to local drone pilots previously, but in light of the increased signal jamming, we felt it was necessary to impose a temporary restriction on the flight of unmanned aircraft in the border area to protect people and their property. In other words, we have decided not to approve drone flight requests from hobbyist pilots until the situation improves,» Purgel said.

According to the website gpsjam.org, which tracks GPS signal interference, there have been constant strong disruptions in signal transmission north of Kallaste throughout the previous week. Signal interference has caused problems for hobby pilots in the past, even to the extent that communication with the aircraft was lost, causing it to fly away.

Last spring, a pilot in Laagna village, East-Viru County, flew a drone when, at one point, the connection between the aircraft, which was about 40 meters above the ground, and the remote control on the ground was lost. GPS connection with the satellites was also lost, and the drone, now out of control, flew away. The location was 10 kilometers from the border.

Eduard Vainu, head of development at the website droon.ee, which deals with the sales and maintenance of DJI aircraft, stated at the time that it is possible that satellite signals near the eastern border are spoofed, meaning fake signals are created to make the drone fly in an unknown direction.

«To protect the valuable property of hobbyist pilots and the health of people in the drone flight area, in case a drone falls due to signal interference, we deemed it necessary to impose this temporary restriction as a precaution,» Purgel said.