Local resident: I heard something fly over the house and then an explosion
A woman has told ERR she likely heard the flight and explosion of the suspected Ukrainian combat drone that entered Estonian airspace early Sunday morning and crashed in south Estonia.
A local farmer discovered pieces of an exploded combat drone around 3 p.m. Monday (August 25) in Elva Municipality, Tartu County. An explosion crater was also found at the site.
Preliminary evidence indicates the drone is Ukrainian, and there are no suggestions that it is of Russian origin, the Internal Security Service (ISS/KAPO) said on Tuesday.
"I heard a strange sound just after five o'clock and something flying over the house. The sound reminded me of a motor scooter. Less than a minute later, there was a loud explosion that made the windows shake," Tiiu, who lives in Aakre village, told ERR.
"There were quite a few of us who heard it. My brother heard the same bang," she added.
She noted that some people living near the village said they saw a drone flying overhead.
According to Tiiu, the explosion may have occurred about one and a half kilometers from the house.
She admitted that when she read the news on Tuesday morning about drone debris found in Estonia, she immediately connected it with the events she had witnessed.
According to unconfirmed information from another source, the drone crashed in a field near Koruste village, roughly five kilometers from Aakre.
Another local resident, Veljo Runnel, who records bird calls, believes he recorded the sound of a flying drone at 4:45 a.m. around Kuutsi, Võru County. You can listen to the recording below.
This story was updated to add additional context, the sound file and gallery.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Marcus Turovski, Helen Wright
